The Only Korean Film among the Invited Films This Year

Director Cho Minseo's short film Lip Rouge was officially invited to two categories: the International Competition and the Next Generation Competition at the 25th Brussels Short Film Festival. Directed by Cho, who was born in 1999, Lip Rouge is the only Korean short film invited to the competition category this year and the only film invited to both the international and next-generation competition categories this year.

Lip Rouge is about a son who is chased by loan sharks and engaged in an insurance scam with his mother. The film impressively depicts the process of economic pain transforming human life into the theater of the absurd. Especially, Actor Um Joonki’s acting is very impressive who won the Best Actor of the Year at the Directors Week at the 2021 Chungmuro Film Festival. Lip Rouge was already invited to the Korean Short Competition at the 2021 PyeongChang International Peace Film Festival (PIPFF) and received favorable reviews. 

3,714 films were submitted to the International Competition of the 25th Brussels Short Film Festival this year, and 56 films among them have been officially invited. Also, 974 films were submitted to the Next Generation Competition, and only 37 among them were officially invited. Attention is focusing on whether Lip Rouge, which has been invited to both sections through high competition, will win the trophy in the competitions. If Lip Rouge wins the Grand Prize at the Brussels Short Film Festival, it will qualify for the Short Film finals at the U.S. Academy Awards. The Brussels International Film Festival will be held from April 20 to 30 in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.