UK distributor Soda Pictureshas closed a deal with CJ Entertainment to pick up UK and Ireland rights tosumptuous Korean drama Untold Scandal. The film had previously been selected for the ongoing Edinburghfestival, but was recently upgraded to become the closing film. It will closethe festival on Sunday (29 Aug).

Directed by E J Yong, thefilm is a 17th century Korean set adaptation of Choderlos DeLaclos' Liaisons Dangereusesnovel about courtly deceit and sexual intrigue. It scored over one million spectatorsin the first weekend of its local Korean release and has become a strong sellerfor CJ as it has the cross over potential that lifts it out of the festivalgroove and into the European art-house theatres circuit.

Scandal is the third film by E J Yong, after An Affair and Asako In Ruby Shoes, but is the first to gain a UK theatrical release.

Soda Pictures chief, EveGabereau, said: "I have programmed both of E J Yong's previous twofeatures in festivals in the UK - the first in Edinburgh and the second inCambridge - and I look forward to bringing his work to a wideraudience."
Edinburgh artistic director Shane Danielsen says that the film"vindicates our faith in the richness of contemporary South Koreancinema" and that it is "deserving of the closing nighthonour."

Soda Pictures launched in2002. Its first release was Dai Sijie's GoldenGlobe-nominated Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress in 2003. It has since picked up films including Christoffer Boe's Reconstruction, Soenke Wortmann's The Miracle Of Bern, Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music In The World and Damian Kozole's Spare Parts.