South Korea’s Barunson E&A has secured sales rights to The World Of Love, the next project of acclaimed Korean filmmaker Yoon Ga-eun, and is beginning talks with buyers at the EFM.
It marks the third feature by Yoon after debut The World Of Us, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2016, and The House Of Us, which screened at the BFI London Film Festival in 2019.
Her latest will focus on an enigmatic 17-year-old student named Jooin who is a cheerful friend, a shameless daughter, a mischievous girlfriend, and always hard to predict. More than anything, she is curious about and baffled by love. However, after blurting out some words in fit of anger, causing a scene, she begins to receive anonymous notes questioning her behaviour, and cracks begin to appear in her formerly peaceful world.
The cast is led by Seo Su-bin in her debut on-screen appearance alongside Chang Hyae-jin of Parasite and TV series Crash Landing On You, and Ko Min-si of box-office hits The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion and Smugglers.
Produced by Semosi and Vol Media, filming has wrapped on the feature, which is being lined up for a local release this year through Barunson E&A.
Director Yoon is a rising star of the Korean filmmaking scene. Her work with young performers has led Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon Ho to label her one of the “three masters” of bringing child actors to life on screen alongside Abbas Kiarostami and Hirokazu Kore-eda.
She first gained recognition when her short film Guest became the first Asian film to win the grand prix at Clermont-Ferrand in 2011. Yoon followed this up with Sprout, which won the Crystal Bear for best short at the Berlinale in 2014. She returned in 2016 with debut feature The World Of Us, which sold well internationally and has since been named among the top 100 Korean films by the Korean Film Archive – one of the few films from the 2010 to make the list.
Barunson E&A is the Korean sales and production company behind Oscar-winner Parasite, which expanded into international co-production, financing and sales in 2022.
Also on its EFM slate are fantasy animation Gill, which premiered at Annecy; upcoming Indonesian thriller Smothered, written and produced by Joko Anwar; crime thriller Nocturnal, starring Ha Jung-woo; sex comedy and local box office hit Forbidden Fairytale; and Duong Dieu Linh’s Don’t Cry, Butterfly, which won the grand prize at Venice Critics’ Week.
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