Korea’s presence is strong this year, led by Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s first Korean-language feature Broker in Competition, while market titles include sci-fi Alienoid and transgender drama Peafowl.
Festival
Broker
Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
Japanese filmmaker Kore-eda, who won the Palme d’Or with Shoplifters in 2018, brings his first Korean-language film to Competition. He wrote and directed this story about two men who have taken a child from a ‘baby box’ (where parents can leave infants they are unable to raise) as well as a regretful mother and two police detectives. The film stars Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won, Lee Ji-eun, Doona Bae and Lee Joo-young. Produced by Seoul-based Zip Cinema and backed and distributed by leading Korean studio CJ ENM, the film is set for June release in Korea.
Contact: CJ ENM
Decision To Leave
Dir. Park Chan-wook
Having won the Cannes 2004 grand prize with Oldboy and the 2009 jury prize with Thirst, Korean filmmaker Park is returning to the festival for the first time since The Handmaidenscreened in Competition in 2016. His Korean- and Chinese-language film stars Park Hae-il (The Host) and Tang Wei (Lust, Caution) in the story of a detective who suspects but is attracted to a mysterious woman while investigating her husband’s death. Seoul-based Moho Film produced. CJ ENM is backing and distributing, with the film set for local release in June.
Contact: CJ ENM
Hunt
Dir. Lee Jung-jae
Squid Game star and veteran actor of films such as Im Sang-soo’s Cannes title The Housemaid (2010), Lee returns to the Croisette — with his directing debut in Midnight Screenings. He also stars in the period spy action film alongside Jung Woo-sung (The Good, The Bad, The Weird), playing two unit chiefs in the Korean Central Intelligence Agency at a time of repressive political turmoil. Tasked to uncover a mole, they end up investigating each other as well as discovering a North Korean plot to assassinate the president. The film is produced by Artist Studio and Sanai Pictures with Megabox Plus M financing and distributing.
Contact: Megabox Plus M
Next Sohee
Dir. July Jung
Writer/director Jung made her feature debut in Un Certain Regard 2014 with A Girl At My Door, starring Doona Bae, and returns this year with her second feature — also starring Bae — as the closing film for Critics’ Week. Kim Si-eun stars as a gutsy vocational school student who lands a prized internship at a major internet provider’s call centre. But it turns out to be an over-pressured nightmare that leads to the high-schooler’s death. Bae stars as the detective who investigates. The film is produced by TwinPlus Partners and Crank-up Film.
Contact: Finecut
Market
Alienoid
Dir. Choi Dong-hoon
This sci-fi action adventure from the director of Assassination and The Thieves stars Ryu Jun-yeol (Money), Kim Woo-bin (Master), Kim Tae-ri (The Handmaiden), So Ji-sub (The Battleship Island), Yum Jung-ah (Intimate Strangers), Jo Woo-jin (Seobok) and Kim Eui-sung (Train To Busan). For many years, aliens have kept their prisoners locked inside human bodies, but in 2022 the guard in charge opens a gate through time in an attempt to prevent them from escaping. It links to 600 years in the past, where a clumsy chi master, competing with others to acquire a divine blade, discovers a starship stuck in a river. Produced by Caper Film, it is in post-production and aiming for local release this year.
Contact: CJ ENM
Cassiopeia
Dir. Shin Yeon-shick
Starring veteran actor Ahn Sungki and Seo Hyun-jin, this drama is from the director of The Avian Kind and One Win. Trying to make a perfect life as a successful lawyer, a divorced single mother and a daughter, Su-jin plans to send her daughter to the US where she can study and live with her father. When Su-jin becomes overwhelmed with work, her own father moves in to help out — before she receives an unexpected diagnosis following a car accident. Set for local release on June 1, the film is produced by Luz Y Sonidos and Frame Contents.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment
The Door
Dir. Chang Hang-jun
This thriller from the director of Forgotten stars Lee Soon-won, Seo Young-ju, Kim Soo-jin (Secret Zoo) and Kang Ae-sim (Kim Ji-young, Born 1982). A Korean man makes a late-night visit to his older sister’s house in a residential area of the US, and is welcomed by her husband. As they drink and talk, the truth that will determine their family’s fate is revealed. Produced by ContentsLab Vivo, Madman Post and BA Entertainment (The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil), the film is in post-production with an expected local release date in 2022.
Contact: Contents Panda
Gangnam Zombie
Dir. Lee Soo-sung
This action thriller from the director of A Way Back To Mother and Mr Zombie stars Ji Il-joo (Crazy Romance) and Park Ji-yeon, the member of K-pop group T-ARA who also featured in Death Bell 2: Bloody Camp. A failed athlete who was once a national taekwondo team back-up but now works at a Gangnam creative company (where he has a crush on one of his colleagues) is forced into a life-or-death match against zombies. Produced by Lee Film and Joy N Cinema, the film is in post-production, and attracting attention for being sold by the company behind hit zombie thriller Train To Busan.
Contact: Contents Panda
Miss Fortune
Dir. Lee Seung-jun
This comedy drama from the director of The Limit and The Spy: Undercover Operation stars Uhm Jung-hwa, Song Sae-byeok and Bang Min-ah (a member of K-pop group Girl’s Day). The film features a once-successful and beautiful swindler who takes on one last, life-changing job with the help of her daughter: seducing the son of a wealthy family of art brokers to steal the treasure hidden in their mansion. Currently in post-production, the film is produced by Shinyoung E&C.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment
Peafowl
Dir. Byun Sung-bin
This is the feature debut from Byun, who won the audience award at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival with God’s Daughter Dances in 2020. The film stars dancer Hae-jun and Kim U-gyeom (Sophie’s World), who both worked with the director on the (otherwise unrelated) short, and follows a transgender woman who has cut ties with her family and hometown. She is compelled to go back, however, to perform a traditional memorial drum dance for her father to fulfil the conditions of his will and get her inheritance.
Contact: M-Line Distribution
The Plot
Dir. Lee Yo-sup
From the director of The Queen Of Crime, this crime thriller starring Gang Dong-won (Broker), Lee Mi-sook (Ode To The Goose), Lee Hyun-wook (The Policeman’s Lineage) and Tang Jun-sang (In Our Prime) is about the boss of a contract killer organisation faced with the fallout when his team’s plan to kill the hottest candidate for attorney general goes awry. Produced by Zip Cinema (Broker), The Plot is in post.
Contact: Contents Panda
A Raging Rhino (working title)
Dir. Hwang Dong-seok
This dramatic feature from the director of Comfort Of Life stars Han Lee-jin, Mun Chang-gil (The Fortress) and Kim Soi (The Avian Kind). Undercut by his father’s fame, a young man makes a living out of part-time jobs. When his father dies, he learns of a secret that makes him return to his dad’s gym to restore its former glory. The film is expected to be released locally in the third quarter of 2022.
Contact: kt alpha
Rebound
Dir. Chang Hang-jun
From the director of Forgotten, this sports drama based on a true story of Busan’s Jung-Ang high school basketball team’s miraculous comeback is written by Kwon Sung-hui (The Spy Gone North) and Kim Eun-hee (Netflix’s Kingdom). The film stars Ahn Jae-hong (Time To Hunt), Lee Sin-young (TV’s Crash Landing On You), Jung Jin-woon, Kim Teak, Jung Gun-joo, Kim Min and Ahn Ji-ho. Currently in production, it is set for a 2023 local release, and is produced by BA Entertainment (The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil) and Walkhouse Company.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment
Single In Seoul
Dir. Park Beom-su
This romantic comedy stars Lee Dong-wook and Lim Soo-jung as a writer who praises life as a singleton and an editor who is desperate to find her better half. Working together on a book, their conflicts raise the question of whether they will ever be able to finish it. Produced by DCG Plus, Myung Films and Insight Film, and backed and distributed by Lotte Entertainment, the film is currently in post-production.
Contact: Lotte Entertainment
Spring Garden
Dir. Ku Tae-jin
This is the feature directing debut from the producer of Thai-Korean horror film The Medium (which Na Hong-jin executive produced) as well as films such as The Chaser and The Great Battle. The horror thriller, about an infamous haunted house in Korea and a woman who mysteriously lost her husband and baby, stars Jo Yoon-hee (Luck-Key) and Kim Joo-ryoung (Netflix’s Squid Game). Produced by Byus Ent, Spring Garden is in pre-production and set to start shooting in June for a 2023 release.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment
Streaming
Dir. Cho Jang-ho
This thriller stars Kang Ha-neul (I Have A Date With Spring) as a top live-streamer who specialises in criminal profiling and covering mystery crime cases. One day, he streams about an unsolved serial murder case and ends up finding clues and unveiling the truth to some dark secrets in real time. Produced by Very Good Studio and backed and distributed by Lotte Entertainment, the film is in post-production.
Contact: Lotte Entertainment
No comments yet