Welcome to Dongmakgol selected as Korea`s Oscar entry
Sep 16, 2005
Hit film Welcome to Dongmakgol has been selected by Korea as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 78th Academy Awards.
For this category, each country is charged with the task of submitting one film that has been released in the host country between October 1, 2004 and September 30, 2005. The submitted films are then all screened in Hollywood before five final nominations are announced in January.
A five-member committee appointed by KOFIC chose Dongmakgol out of eight submitted films. Other titles included Kim Ki-duk's 3-Iron, Lee Myung-se's Duelist, Hur Jin-ho's April Snow, Park Chan-wook's Sympathy For Lady Vengeance, Jeong Yun-cheol's Marathon, Ryoo Seung-wan's Crying Fist and Kim Jee-woon's A Bittersweet Life.
Set in a tiny village in the mountains during the Korean War, the film tells the story of two South Korean soldiers, three North Korean soldiers, and an American pilot who all end up staying in the same community.
The film has proven to be a strong success with local audiences, having sold over 7 million tickets since its release on August 4. Currently it ranks as Korea's fourth best-selling film of all time, after Tae Guk Gi (11.7m admissions), Silmido (11.1m), and Friend (8.2m).
South Korea has never had an entry selected as one of the five final nominations. Previous submissions in the past include Tae Guk Gi (2004), Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003), Oasis (2002), and Chunhyang (2000).
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