News

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2022 Fantasia coverage. Next Sohee opens in theaters on May 16.

And here I thought capitalism’s hold on the American education system by way of unpaid internships was bad. As documented in July Jung’s extern drama Next Sohee, what’s happening in South Korea is even worse. It all comes down to incentives—not for the children, but the institutions profiting off their labor. When big companies with huge executive payrolls (since managers need managers who also need managers while hourly employees become statistical cogs in the slave machine) need cheap and naïve workers to fill call center desks or factory floors, they knock on the school board’s door offering positions. Since districts’ budgets are beholden to quantitative competition, schools say “thank you,” blindly assign their students, and threaten that quitting isn’t an option. Such “disgrace” is monetarily unacceptable.

Acclaimed South Korean filmmaker July Jung‘s emotionally devastating drama-thriller Next Sohee is set to make its highly anticipated U.S. theatrical debut this May. Following its world premiere as the Closing Film of the 2022 Cannes Critics’ Week–where it received a seven-minute standing ovation–Next Sohee has earned critical acclaim for its harrowing and deeply affecting narrative, anchored by an electrifying performance from Kim Si-eun (Squid Game season 2) and a powerhouse turn by Rebel Moon and The Host star Bae Doona.

Inspired by true events, Next Sohee follows the story of a high school student who takes on an internship at a call center, only to face grueling conditions that spiral into tragedy. As an investigator, played by Bae Doona, delves into the circumstances surrounding the case, she uncovers unsettling truths about systemic exploitation and institutional neglect. The film delivers a searing indictment of labor abuses while exploring themes of empathy,...

In a deal unveiled at Hong Kong FilMart, Korean filmmaker July Jung’s emotionally charged drama-thriller “Next Sohee” will make its long-awaited stateside theatrical debut in May through Zurty Studios and Echelon Studios, following a celebrated international festival run.

The film, which closed the 2022 Cannes Critics’ Week to a seven-minute standing ovation, offers a harrowing narrative inspired by true events. It follows a high school student’s tragic experience during an internship at a call center with grueling working conditions, and the subsequent investigation by a determined detective, played by Bae Doona.

Jung’s sophomore feature solidifies her reputation as a significant voice in Korean cinema after her critically acclaimed debut “A Girl at My Door” (2014), which also starred Doona. “Bringing ‘Next Sohee’ to audiences in the U.S. is incredibly meaningful,” Jung said. “This story reflects real struggles, and I hope it resonates with viewers as deeply as it has with me.

Image courtesy of Day for Night

As though to provide a measure of solace in a year when the world news could hardly have been more depressing, 2024 has provided far more cinema of quality than has been seen for a very long time. I can come up with no less than twenty-five titles that count as exceptional works, at least half of which are close to perfection. Even so, that does not mean that 2024 has been a year without worries about where cinema is going. The great films are there but how readily can they be seen? This is a time when the range of what is on offer at mainstream cinemas fails to satisfy as many tastes as one would wish, when many films play mainly or exclusively on platforms too numerous for subscribers to embrace all of them and when the number of releases is so high that,...

“In Our Day,” the film by South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo which closes the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival, has seen distributors in multiple territories move early to strike rights deals.

French rights were picked up by Capricci), Spanish rights by L’Atalante Cinema and Greek rights by Ama Films. The film has its official premiere on May 25.

Seoul-based Finecut has long been the sales agent for Hong’s plentiful output. In addition to the deals on “In Our Day,” Finecut signed agreements with L’Atalante, with France’s Ariona Films and Taiwan’s Cola Films for “In Water,” Hong’s first film of 2023 which premiered in the Encounters section in Berlin in February. The film was previously sold to Cinema Guild for North America.

Finecut continues to do business on “Next Sohee,” the Jung July film which played at Cannes last year as the closing film of the Critics’Week section.

This year's hybrid edition of Tallinn Black Nights (PÖFF) shows a strong presence of Asian films, as much in competition as in sidebar programs, including the popular genre section ‘Midnight Shivers'. One of the most pleasant surprises so far is the directorial debut “Black Light” by the South-Korean filmmaker Bae Jong-dae which screens in the First Feature Competition, where it celebrates its international premiere. It's not just the flawless script which presents us with many facets of one tragedy, but also the balanced tempo, the synergy of picture and sound and the excellent cast that make this film a beautiful, even if occasionally – tearful watch. But because emotions don't get exploited for the purpose of willful psychological manipulation in the film, actions and reactions played by actors have the quality of unfeigned, real-life situations.

“Black Light” is available from Echelon Studios

How to deal with a personal loss due to a car accident,...

July Jung studied at the Department of Imaging at Sungkyunkwan University, then studied the academic characteristics of video media, before attending Korea National University of Arts, majoring in filmmaking. Her first feature, “A Girl at My Door” (2014), was screened at the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes, gaining praise from international media.

Kim Si-eun is an actress on TV and cinema. Her credits include “The Dream Songs”, “Boys Be” and “The Negotiation”

On the occasion of “Next Sohee” screening at Red Sea International Film Festival, we speak about the main concept of the movie, So-hee’s personality, the change of perspective halfway into the movie and other topics.

Next Sohee is screening at Red Sea International Film Festival

How close to reality are the events portrayed in the movie?

July Jung: The high school girl that died at a call center while she was working there – that’s true.

Good things come to those who wait, and so it is with Next Sohee, the blunt and powerful new film from director July Jung, which bowed at the Cannes Film Festival this spring, following eight years after her sensational debut, A Girl at My Door. Teaming up once more with actress Bae Doona, Jung sets her sights on the systems and circumstances that contribute to workplace abuse, specifically young students who are taken advantage of by shady 'externship' programs. Bad things, meanwhile, come in threes. High school student Sohee -- a splendid Kim Si-eun in her first major role -- is initially thrilled to be drafted into her school's 'externship' program, which places her in a job in a call center where she can earn...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

She’s dancing when we first see her. Wearing headphones. We can’t hear the music but we can see her response to it, the energy in her movements, the passion. She’s good – the best in the group, its other members will later agree. She’s full of life, but by the halfway point in July Jung’s incisive and devastating film, she will be dead.

Next Sohee screened as part of 2022’s Fantasia International Film Festival, an environment in which it’s not unusual to see films about the tragedy of lost life, about murders following which there are intensive investigations. Sohee (Kim Si-eun) is not murdered – she takes her own life – but there are multiple culpable parties. Shouldn’t this tragedy receive the same kind of investigation and follow-up? Shouldn’t people be held to account?

The film’s pre-publicity makes no secret of Sohee’s impending death,...

July Jung made one of the best recent debuts of recent times in Korean cinema back in 2014 with her “A Girl at My Door”, a gritty and superbly acted social drama which screened in the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes Film Festival. It went on to receive much critical acclaim and multiple awards at film festivals, with both the director and lead actress Bae Doona receiving praise and accolades for their work. Jung instantly became a director to watch out for but little did we know that it would take eight years before she would step behind the camera again for “Next Sohee”, which closed the International Critics’ Week at Cannes this year.

“Next Sohee” is screening on Fantasia International Film Festival

Bright, cheerful and feisty Sohee is like any other high schooler who wants to be a dancer, loves hanging out with her friends and boyfriend and would...

Jung July makes a powerful comeback after eight years of break in directing with another strong socially-engaged mystery drama, “Next Sohee”. Premiering in Cannes’ La Semaine de la Critique side section, where it received a several minute-long standing ovation, her sophomore film navigates around two perspectives: the story of Sohee (Kim Si-eun), a high-school girl who starts her first job at a call-center desk, and detective Oh Yoo-jin (Bae Doona), who takes up an investigation in which she hopes to untangle the mystery behind the company’s toxic environment that leads to a tragic end.

The film, distinctively divided into two narrative parts, slowly unravels as a profound meditation on the solitude of young people in Korean society and their lack of agency to make any impactful change; a story good as any Korean recent title, however, Jung’s solid grip of her storytelling rhythm and sympathetic gaze toward characters...

Next Sohee Photo: courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

The complete line-up of this year's Fantasia International Film Festival has now been announced, along with the festival's closing film. Next Sohee, which enjoyed success at Cannes, is a blistering look at the exploitation of young women, directed by July Jung and starring Bae Doona alongside newcomer Kim Si-eun. More than130 features and 200 shorts will be screened in total.

This year's Prix Denis-Héroux, which recognises an exceptional contribution to the development of genre and independent cinema in Quebec, will be awarded to producer Pierre David, and the festival will host a number of special events, panels and talks, with guests including John Woo, Kim Kangmin and Kier-La Janisse. The legacy of Edgar Allan Poe will be celebrated with short films unearthed from Montreal’s Film Society archives, and there will also be a session on how the film industry can reduce its contribution to climate change.

Further titles include ’Contorted’, ‘The Hill Of Secrets’, ’The Novelist’s Film’.

Korea’s Finecut has closed a string of deals led by Cheon Myeong-kwan’s action noir Hot Blooded and Hong Jun-pyo’s animation Chun Tae-il: A Flame That Lives On, both set to Cannes market premieres.

Best-selling author Cheon Myeong-kwan’s directorial debut, Hot Blooded has sold to Japan (New Select), North America (Epic Pictures Releasing), Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia (Cj Enm Hong Kong), Philippines (Viva Networks)

Starring Jung Woo (Best Friend), Kim Kap-soo (Steel Rain) and Choi Moo-sung (Last Child), the film previously sold to The Jokers Films...

This year’s hybrid edition of Tallinn Black Nights (PÖFF) shows a strong presence of Asian films, as much in competition as in sidebar programs, including the popular genre section ‘Midnight Shivers’. One of the most pleasant surprises so far is the directorial debut “Black Light” by the South-Korean filmmaker Bae Jong-dae which screens in the First Feature Competition, where it celebrates its international premiere. It’s not just the flawless script which presents us with many facets of one tragedy, but also the balanced tempo, the synergy of picture and sound and the excellent cast that make this film a beautiful, even if occasionally – tearful watch. But because emotions don’t get exploited for the purpose of willful psychological manipulation in the film, actions and reactions played by actors have the quality of unfeigned, real-life situations.

“Black Light” is screening at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

How to deal...