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<Thierry Fremaux (right), a festival general delegate, and the festival's president, Iris Knobloch, pose at a press conference to announce the official selections of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, at the UGC Montparnasse cinema in Paris, Thursday. (AFP)>

For the first time in 12 years, no South Korean films have been included in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival.

According to the festival’s organizing committee, which announced the lineup for the 78th Cannes Film Festival on Thursday evening, no Korean films were named among the invited works. Korean films were not only excluded from the main competition section, where the Palme d’Or and other top honors are awarded, but also from out of competition categories and sidebars such as the midnight screenings and Un Certain Regard.

This marks the first time since 2013 that Korean cinema has been shut out from both competition and noncompetition categories at Cannes.

Among the domestic titles submitted to this year’s festival were “The Ugly” from "Train to Busan" director Yeon Sang-ho, “The Journey to Gyeongju” from Kim Mi-jo and “Omniscient Reader” from Kim Byung-woo.

Auteur and Oscar-winning Park Chan-wook’s new film, “No Other Choice,” was reportedly not submitted, as postproduction remained incomplete. This year's submission deadline for the Cannes Film Festival was March 14.

However, since the Cannes Film Festival has previously added films after its official announcement, there remains the possibility that a Korean film could still be included. Korean entries may also appear in parallel sections yet to be revealed, such as Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.

The last time a Korean film was in competition at Cannes was in 2022, with Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave” and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Broker,” the latter produced by a Korean company. This year marks the third consecutive absence of Korean films from the competition section.

In this year’s competition lineup are “The Mastermind” directed by Kelly Reichardt, “Alpha” by Julia Ducournau and “Two Prosecutors” by Sergei Loznitsa. Out of competition, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” is among the selections.

The Cannes Film Festival will take place in Cannes, France, from May 13 to 24.

By Lee Yoon-seo

The Korean Herald (Click)