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Writer-director Hong Sang-soo’s By the Stream opens on a pastoral autumn landscape of Seoul, with a stream running toward a bridge. Wide landscape shots are unusual for Hong, and this image introduces this stream as the first of several refrains that will run through the film as, well, currents. Amid a vast narrative, especially for Hong, one that’s rich in scandals and disappointments and broken promises, there’s the relief for the characters of the stream, the foliage, and the moon. As despairing as this film can be, it also has a glow that’s reminiscent of Hong’s In Front of Your Face, only more so. This is the glow of communal rapture, the reassuring bond of community that can also be a trap.

Sitting by the stream is Jeonim (Kim Min-hee), who’s writing in a notebook, seemingly lost in reverie. Hong and Kim express more...

The death of the author is the birth of the reader, as we know from post-structuralist thought; then again, there are Hong Sangsoo’s public remarks. A charming video I often revisit shows the South Korean filmmaker outlining his working method: script dialogue completed the day of (also common on big Hollywood productions), followed by a light-speed editing assembly. But at a public Q&a in Locarno following the premiere of his latest, By the Stream, he revealed a shift; a day now separates his writing and location-shooting. Turning over his new film and this year’s other premiere, A Traveler’s Needs, the extra hours of composition and finessing are evident.

So how about Spot the Difference––which we cynically might call being on Hong world-premiere-reviewing duty. Yet By the Stream’s departures, and relatedly its virtues, are a bit more pronounced. Its running time almost grazes two hours––more...

Leading Korean rights sales firm Finecut is to handle the international distribution of “A Traveler’s Needs,” which on Monday was confirmed as debuting in the main competition section of next month’s Berlinale. Remarkably, it is director Hong Sang-soo’s sixth selection for Berlin since 2020.

The picture is also the third time that French acting icon Isabelle Huppert stars in a film by the Korean veteran director, following their previous joint efforts “Claire’s Camera” and “In Another Country.”

A synopsis provided reads: “She came from France. She was playing a child’s recorder in a park. With no means of supporting herself she was advised to teach French. She became a teacher to two women. She likes to lie down on rocks and rely on makkeolli [Korean rice wine] for comfort.” Dialog is a mix of Korean, English and French.

Hong is known for his micro-budget, minimalist drama films that are long on conversation,...

Following the announcement of the London Korean Film Festival’s (Lkff) upcoming 18th edition which gives special commemoration to the 40th Anniversary of the Korean Academy of Film Arts (Kafa), the festival is delighted to reveal its 2023 programme. At the BFI Southbank, the London Korean Film Festival will host the Opening and Closing ceremonies in celebration of the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UK and Korea.

The Festival runs from 2 November – 16 November 2023 with a programme of 40 films comprising the following strands: Cinema Now, Special Focus : 40th Anniversary of Kafa, Women’s Voices, Special Screenings and Korea Season.

A Normal Family by Hur Jin-ho will open the festival on the 2nd November at BFI Southbank with the director in attendance. The story is based on the celebrated Dutch novel Het Diner (The Dinner) by Herman Koch, which has sold over a million copies. The latest...

“In Our Day,” the new Hong Sang-soo film premiering later this week as the Cannes Film Festival’s closing night film, has been acquired by Cinema Guild. A theatrical release is planned following its North American festival premiere later this year.

The picture stars Kim Min-hee, Song Seon-mi, Gi Ju-bong and Ha Seong-guk. This character dramedy marks Hong’s 30th feature film, this time using long, elaborate takes to articulate simple pleasures like an interspecies encounter, the discovery of a new drink and a game of rock, paper, scissors.

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“Adding to the rich tableau of his work, Hong Sang-soo’s ‘In Our Day’ not only makes us laugh, it makes us think about what it means to be alive,” Cinema Guild president Peter Kelly said in a statement. “It’s a gift that we hope continues and continues.

Hong Sang-soo’s latest film “In Our Day,” which will premiere on closing night of Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, has been acquired by Cinema Guild for North America.

Cinema Guild will release the film in theaters following its North American festival premiere later this year.

“In Our Day” stars Kim Minhee as Sangwon, an actress who has recently returned to South Korea and is temporarily staying with her friend, Jungsoo (Song Sunmi), and her cat, Us. Elsewhere in the city, the aging poet Uiju (Ki Joobong) lives alone, his cat having recently passed away. On this ordinary day, each of them has a visitor: Sangwon is visited by her cousin, Jisoo (Park Miso) and Uiju, by a young actor,

Jaewon (Ha Seongguk). Each of them wants to learn about a career in the arts, but they also

have bigger questions.

Hong’s 30th feature outing, “In Our Day” demonstrates a new...

Hong Sangsoo’s In Our Day, the closing night film at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar, has sold to Cinema Guild for North America.

Sangsoo’s 30th feature will release in North American theaters later this year following a North American festival premiere.

In Our Day follows a woman in her 40s, temporarily living at the home of a friend, and a man in his 70s living alone, who both have visitors with serious questions to ask.

The deal was negotiated by Peter Kelly of Cinema Guild with Youngjoo Suh of Seoul-based sales agent Finecut. “Adding to the rich tableau of his work, Hong Sangsoo’s In Our Day not only makes us laugh, it makes us think about what it means to be alive,” said Cinema Guild President Peter Kelly. “It’s a gift that we hope continues and continues.”

Finecut earlier this week sold In Our Day to France’s Capricci,...

Hong’s 30th feature premieres at Cannes on May 25.

Cinema Guild has acquired North American distribution rights Hong Sangsoo’s In Our Day, the closing night film of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, in a deal with South Korea’s Finecut.

Cinema Guild said it will release Hong’s 30th feature film in theatres following its North American festival premiere later this year.

The South Korean film follows an actress and old poet who each host a visitor and dodge questions posed by their guests using food, drink and games.

The feature has already sold to key territories, including France (Capricci), Spain...

Leading indie sales agent Finecut has picked up international rights to “In Our Day” by idiosyncratic South Korean director Hong Sang-soo. The film is set as the closing title of the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar of the Cannes festival.

Hong, who works on low budgets, controls much of the production process and makes repeated use of a small pool of actors, is one of the most prolific feature directors in the world. This is already his second feature this year. His earlier, “In Water” played in the Encounters section at Berlin in February

His films are known for their minimalist style, a focus on female characters, serial chance encounters and oblique references to the media industry. On paper, “In Our Day” fits exactly in that groove.

Finecut pitches the synopsis as: “A woman in her early 40s, is temporarily living at the home of a friend, who is raising a cat.

The sidebar unveiled its 55th selection under new artistic director Julien Rejl on Tuesday (April 18).

Films from Michel Gondry, Hong Sangsoo and Cédric Kahn are among the 19 features set to world premiere at the 55th Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, running May 17-26.

Scroll down for the full selection

Incoming artistic director Julien Rejl unveiled the line-up at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday (April 18) for the non-competitive Cannes parallel section run by French directors guild the Srf.

Rejl said he and his committee chose the films from nearly 4,000 submissions and travelled to more than 20 countries to meet filmmakers and professionals across the globe.

The sidebar unveiled its 55th selection under new artistic director Julien Rejl on Tuesday (April 18).

Projects from Michel Gondry, Hong Sang-Soo and Cédric Kahn are among the 19 features set to world premiere at the 55th Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, running May 17-26.

Scroll down for the full selection

Incoming artistic director Julien Rejl unveiled the line-up at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday (April 18) for the non-competitive Cannes parallel section run by French directors guild the Srf.

Rejl said he and his committee chose the films from nearly 4,000 submissions and travelled to more than 20 countries to meet filmmakers and professionals across the globe.

The pace of arthouse /smart-house releases accelerated this weekend as wide-for-specialty openings like A Good Person and The Lost King joined a handful of solid single-theater openings from distributors Greenwich Entertainment, Sideshow/Janus Films, Mubi, Abramorama and Cinema Guild – all set for some expansion.

MGM released Killer Films and Elevation Pictures’ A Good Person on 530 screens with a $834k cume for the film by writer/director Zach Braff starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman. It’s got a 96% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, indicating continued playability at commercial smart-house locations as an alternative to current tentpole programming.

Pugh is Allison, whose life falls apart after her involvement in a fatal accident but is revived by a unlikely relationship she forms with her would-be father-in-law (Freeman). Deadline review here.

The Lost King from IFC Films, by Stephen Frears, and starring Sally Hawkins as an amateur historian who unearthed the 500-year-old remains of Richard III,...

As The Novelist’s Film stays fresh and in water just begins screening, it might be easy to overlook Walk Up in the current constellation of Hong Sangsoo. Don’t be deterred: it’s a typically enlivening, zig-zag character study with a classic Hong twist that recontextualizes the seemingly mundane. Cinema Guild will begin rolling out Walk Up on March 24 at Film at Lincoln Center, and we’re thrilled to debut a surprisingly jaunty trailer with great keypad work.

As our TIFF review said, “There’s something very relaxing in the languid rhythms of Walk Up. Though ditching the lo-fi aesthetics of his two 2021 entries, Introduction and In Front of Your Face, there’s still not a ton to look at per se, yet the precision and attention to gestural detail remains. A boozy dinner table scene remains in a fixed position for what seems like ten-to-fifteen minutes––this critic...

Finecut, the leading Korean independent film sales agent, is to represent international rights on “In Water,” the latest film by auteur Hong Sang-soo.

The film will have its world premiere in Berlin as part of the festival’s Encounters section. Its sales launch is set for the accompanying European Film Market.

This follows three successive years in which Hong has appeared in Berlin’s main competition, with: “The Woman Who Ran,” which earned Berlin’s silver bear for best director; 2021 title “Introduction” which won another silver bear, for best screenplay, at that year’s delayed festival; and “The Novelist’s Film” which won a Grand Jury Prize in 2022.

Hong, who works on low budgets, controls much of the production process and makes repeated use of a small pool of actors, is one of the most prolific feature directors in the world. In addition to the four recent Berlin titles, his “In Front of Your Face...

Disney’s “See How They Run” occupied the top spot for the second weekend in a row at the U.K. and Ireland box office, with £984,779 (1.1 million), per numbers released by Comscore. The film now has a total of £2.8 million.

In its seventh weekend, Sony’s “Bullet Train,” starring Brad Pitt, collected £325,252 in second place for a total of £10.3 million.

In third position with £321,746 was Universal’s “Minions: The Rise Of Gru,” which now has a total of £45.1 million after 12 weekends.

Paramount’s Tom Cruise vehicle “Top Gun: Maverick” stormed back into the top five with £320,963 in fourth place. With a total of £82.6 million after 17 weekends, the film is the top grossing film of 2022 in the territory and eighth on the all time chart behind “Avengers: Endgame” (£88.7 million).

Rounding off the top five was Warner Bros.’ “DC League Of Super-Pets,” which collected £307,920 in its eighth weekend for a total of £14.8 million.

If one thing of late really sets Hong Sang-soo apart, it’s his unglamorous depiction of the film director. Appropriate to the small-scale of his corpus, these artists live far from the fantasy of 8½, but instead in the mundanity between projects. Hong’s avatar in Walk Up is Byungsoo (Hae-hyo Kwon), who’s visiting an apartment building owned by Ms. Kim (Lee Hyeyoung) with the company of his estranged daughter Jeong-su (Park Mi-so).

In making their way through the different parts of the building and not forgetting to down one bottle of white wine after another (instead of soju as usual) with his female partners, the vulnerability that comes out when buzzed—a central Hong theme—is very apparent. And so lots and lots of talking ensues to varying degrees of interest, a particular highlight being when Byungsoo notes a dream where God told him to move to Jeju and make films.

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Indie Film Site Network (Ifsn), a collaboration between well-respected media outlets covering the most essential developments in independent and international cinema. Ifsn, which represents The Film Stage, Hammer to Nail, Ioncinema.com, RogerEbert.com, and Screen Anarchy, was created with a mission to support film criticism and foster an ever-growing community of indie film lovers.

In the evolving landscape of filmmaking and film criticism, the very definition of “independent” is shifting and it is our mission to work with sites and distributors that still retain that singular focus on the best in cinema. With Indie Film Site Network, we’re delighted to offer a destination for distributors and filmmakers where they know they will truly be reaching the most passionate fans of independent movies.

Through reviews, interviews, podcasts, news, special features, and extensive coverage from film festivals across the world to theatrical,...

Three things in life are certain: death, taxes and a Hong Sang-soo film screening and, since the last years at least, winning at the Berlin International Film Festival. After taking it easy for a couple years, making only one feature in that timeframe which also screened and won at the Berlinale, Hong Sang-soo returned back to winning ways last year with two releases, “Introduction” and “In Front of Your Face”. The former won him a Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at Berlinale, whereas “In Front of Your Face”, showing a much more pensive side to the 61-year-old director, is generally considered his best work in recent years and one of the best in his oeuvre. This year, he returned to the German festival with “The Novelist’s Film”, winning himself his fourth Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize there.

It is by now a moot point to say that a new Hong...

This review of “In Front of Your Face” was first published May 7 after its NYC opening.

In the opening moments of “In Front of Your Face,” the tender, moving drama from the great South Korean director Hong Sang-soo (“On the Beach at Night Alone”), a woman named Sangok (Lee Hye-young) wakes up on the couch of her sister’s apartment. She touches her own thigh, then her stomach.

It’s a subtle, passing moment, one that in another context might amount to nothing. But what follows her moment of body consciousness feels relevant, if somewhat mysterious: a form of self-guided meditation, as Sangok’s thoughts become voiceover. “Everything I see before me is grace… There is no tomorrow… This moment right now is paradise.”

It’s a prayer of some sort, with more to follow, and in Hong’s spare world of quiet, muted characters, this type of ambiguous interior...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThe Mother and the Whore (1972).The lineup for this year's Cannes Classics boasts a 4k digital restoration of Jean Eustache's The Mother and the Whore, a rare screening of Satyajit Ray’s newly restored Pratidwandi, films by Vittorio de Sica, Orson Welles, Mike De Leon, and much more. After recently making Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger's I Know Where I'm Going! available for free online, Martin Scorsese is set to narrate and executive produce a documentary about the filmmaking duo. Directed by David Hinton, the documentary follows Scorsese's personal journey with and relationship to Powell & Pressburger's films. David Cronenberg has announced his follow-up to Crimes of the Future: Starring Vincent Cassel and produced by Saïd Ben Saïd, Shrouds is about grieving widower whose technologically innovative (and controversial) cemetery is vandalized. Recommended VIEWINGThe trailer...

Audrey Diwan’s Happening opened to an estimated 34k on four screens in NY and LA this weekend for a PTA of 8,500. The locations on both coasts — IFC Center/AMC Lincoln Square and The Landmark/AMC The Grove — while limited showed the abortion drama set in 1968 France competing successfully in commercial crossover multiplexes as well as arthouses.

That’s a pattern Arianna Bocco, distribution head for IFC Films, hopes will continue as it expands to over 100 cities nationwide as well as within the New York City and Los Angeles markets, next week. Anamaria Vartolomei plays Anne, a brilliant student resolved to risk shame, physical risk and prison to end her pregnancy.

“IFC Films is committed to bringing Happening to screens across America at this pivotal moment in time,” she said. “We hope audiences seek this film out and that it sparks important conversations about our future.” The film opened Stateside...

With an opening weekend of 185 million, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” has restored the Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, the most lucrative franchise in film history, to the level exhibitors need. Male ticket buyers (62 percent of the total) propelled the gross, with 36 percent coming from higher-price premium formats.

Its opening ranks behind only the “Avengers” entries, fulfilling high-end expectations for not only the franchise, but also for Disney’s traditional Marvel date. The studio’s estimate might even be low: Disney projects that Sunday will be down 35 percent from Saturday and distributors typically project a 25 to 30 percent drop.

Disney’s pessimism has several sources. It has a B+ Cinemascore (lower than all but one MCU film), and a steep 36 percent Saturday drop from the Thursday/Friday combined total. There’s also the potential for Mother’s Day to impact turnout. Also, there’s no harm in exceeding expectations:...

In Front of Your Face (2021).When it comes to autofiction in contemporary cinema, a few directors are producing works that are as piercingly candid as those of Hong Sang-soo. Curiously though, family life has occupied the outer margins of the purview of Hong’s films. “For some reason, I get the impression that Moon-ho [from Woman is the Future of Man (2004)] fears that he might die if he goes home,” says Kim Hye-ri in a 2005 interview with Hong Sang-soo for Cine21. Observing the absence of the familial in his works, she remarks that Hong’s male characters seem to dread going home. “[Characters] have to leave their homes in order for my stories to begin,” Hong responds. He goes on to share his ethical concern when it comes to writing characters based on people he knows in real life, and that he is not ready to use his own family as a source material in his films just yet.

The voice-over that starts Hong Sang-soo's In Front of Your Face is more like a prayer. It belongs to Sang-ok (Lee Hye-young), a serene faced, aging beauty crashing on the couch in her younger sister Jeong-ok (Cho Yun-hee)'s high-rise apartment in the sprawling suburb of Seoul. Living abroad, she is visiting her sister for the first time since their mom's funeral long ago. Again, her narration has a feel of detachment and a confessional. Something is up. So starts yet another wry snapshot of life by Hong, who remains prolific as ever, presenting two films in last year's New York Film Festival. But In Front of Your Face turns out to be a much more emotionally invested affair, if less inventive structurally and narratively from...

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

The prolific, one-a-year-but-sometimes-two, output of Hong Sang Soo has yielded some brilliant posters, particularly the 'designing for designers' approach that artist Brian Hung has brought to the key art for his films in recent years.  (Hat tip to Mubi for this 2021 interview with Hung on specifically this subject.) One of Hong Sang Soo's recent films, In Front Of Your Face, which (of course) is not his latest, but is still on the North American festival circuit from 2021, got this lovely new key art below. It is the colour mix here -- the dark hair, bright skin-tones, lush green and accented pink -- that makes the composition stand out from the arthouse crowd. Also, the "double line" font that is literally, and figuratively, doing double duty here in all...

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

Cinema Guild has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Juan Pablo González’s fiction feature debut Dos Estaciones, which won a special jury award for lead actor Teresa Sánchez’s performance when it premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

The drama follows 50-year-old businesswoman María García (Sánchez), who owns Dos Estaciones—a once-majestic tequila factory now struggling to stay afloat. The factory is the final hold-over from generations of Mexican-owned tequila plants in the highlands of Jalisco, the rest having folded into foreign corporations. Once one of the wealthiest people in town, María knows her current financial situation is untenable. When a persistent plague and an unexpected flood cause irreversible damage, she is forced to do everything she can to save her community’s primary economy and source of pride.

Dos Estaciones was also an official selection of the True/False Film Festival, where González was honored with the True Vision Award,...

Juan Pablo González’s feature debut earned lead actor Teresa Sánchez special jury prize in January.

Cinema Guild has picked up all US rights to Juan Pablo González’s Sundance selection Dos Estaciones, which earned a special jury award for lead actor Teresa Sánchez’s performance earlier this year.

The feature directorial debut will screen in New Directors/New Films later this month and was also an official selection of True/False Film Festival, where González earned the True Vision Award.

Dos Estaciones follows 50-year-old businesswoman María García, the owner of the eponymous, Mexican-owned tequila factory with an illustrious past...

Despite being prolific in a number of genres, South Korean cinema is probably best known the world over for its thrillers. The execution, aesthetics and subject matters that the filmmakers of the country seem to come up with within this genre are often cream of the crop and thanks to their success, it has also become a genre of choice for many first-time directors as well. One such director is Jeong Ji-yeon, who also chose to write and direct, as her first feature, a thriller that works in more genres than one.

Se-ra is a news reader on a national broadcasting network who anchors the highly sought-after slot of the nightly news show. A few minutes before she’s scheduled to go live one night, she gets a call offering a tip, wherein the caller, a young mother called Mi-so tells her that a man has broken into her house...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Shiva Baby (2020) Emma Seligman's Bottoms now has a cast, which includes Shiva Baby star Rachel Sennott, Havana Rose Liu, Ayo Edebiri, and former NFL player Marshawn Lynch. Written by Seligman and Sennott, the film is a high school sex comedy about "two unpopular queer girls in their senior year who start a fight club to try to impress and hook up with cheerleaders." Michel Bouquet, the prolific French film and theater actor, has died at 96. Early in his film career, Bouquet narrated Alain Resnais' Night and Fog (1955), then went on to appear in films by François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Deray, and many more. Among his later performances was the role of the tiular painter in Gilles Bourdos's Renoir (2013). Submissions are now open for "The Video Essay," the annual collaborative section of...

It’s a good time to be a Hong Sangsoo fan. With an NYC retrospective underway, where the South Korean director is appearing in person, and a LA retrospective kicking off next month, they offer the perfect prep for the theatrical release of his next U.S. release, In Front of Your Face. Originally premiering at Cannes last year, the film follows former actress Sangok (Lee Hyeyoung) who is back in Seoul after years abroad, staying with her sister Jeongok (Cho Yunhee) in her high-rise apartment. Ahead of a May 6 release, Cinema Guild has now unveiled the U.S. trailer.

David Katz said in his review, “By evidence, Hong Sangsoo may never make an Oki’s Movie or Hill of Freedom-type work again; our maestro is shooting for bigger emotional game. It’s fascinating to observe how idiosyncratic directors make their way towards the arthouse mainstream. With Hong, arguably, it...

Anytime Hong Sang-soo releases a new film, it’s cause for celebration. The South Korean auteur behind modern classics such as “Woman Is the Future of Man” and “Right Now, Wrong Then” is one of the most unique voices in world cinema.

He works at an extremely prolific pace while consistently exploring compelling themes such as sexuality, metaphysics, and humanity’s capacity for casual cruelty. His latest, “In Front of Your Face,” hits theaters next month and finds the director in top form working with familiar ideas. The film premiered at Cannes in 2021, but today you can watch the exclusive trailer prior to a limited theatrical release from distributor Cinema Guild in early May.

It should be a good spring for Hong fans who live in New York. Film at Lincoln Center is rolling out a month-long retrospective on the filmmaker that runs through April with double features of his most iconic films,...

Many of Hong Sang-soo’s films are structured around a woman’s solitary wanderings. The single ladies played by Kim Min-Hee in “On the Beach at Night Alone” or “The Woman Who Ran,” or Lee Hye-Young in “In Front of Your Face,” are free radicals, moving from encounter to encounter and disrupting the equilibrium of the people they meet, as meandering conversations reveal a friend’s dissatisfaction or a couple’s disagreement.

Continue reading ‘The Novelist’s Film’ Review: Hong Sang-Soo’s Latests Is Yet Another Charming, Focused Autofiction [Berlin] at The Playlist.

Having long been mired in a writer’s block that she fears might be terminal, celebrated novelist Junhee decides the solution is to try another medium altogether, and sets out make a film. She has an actor, and a cinematographer, but no clear idea of what her film should be about — and that’s okay, she decides, since it will all emerge in time. “Isn’t it too offhand?” a poet friend challenges her. “Don’t you need something to pull people in?” Thus, and not for the first time, does South Korea’s one-man film factory Hong Sangsoo send up his own oeuvre in his 28th feature “The Novelist’s Film,” another gently circuitous, conversation-driven charmer sharing Junhee’s view that “the story is not that important” — but containing more incident and emotion than initially meet the eye.

All Hong films are tangrams to an extent, arriving at slightly different...

Audrey Diwan’s “Happening,” Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” and Terence Davies’s “Benediction” won top prizes at the 2022 Ics Awards, which are handed out by the International Cinephile Society.

This 19th edition marked a milestone with female talents winning best picture, director, animated film, documentary, debut feature, breakthrough performance and cinematography.

“Happening,” a timely abortion drama set in 1960s France, took home best picture, while its star, Anamaria Vartolomei, won best breakthrough performance.

“Remarkable in its combination of artistic delicacy and brutal realism, yet resisting any hint of didacticism, the film quietly builds tension to a gut-wrenching emotional pitch,” stated the Ics.

Campion, meanwhile, won best director with her Western family drama “The Power of the Dog.” Runner-up for top film was Hamaguchi with “Drive My Car,” a road drama based on Haruki Murakami’s short story about guilt and grief.

Leading indie sales agent Finecut has picked up international rights to “The Novelist’s Film.” The picture marks the third year in a row that South Korean director Hong Sang-soo has had a film selected for competition in Berlin.

Hong, who works on low budgets, controls much of the production process and makes repeated use of a small pool of actors, is one of the most prolific feature directors in the world. Although his works divide critics, he appears to have been recently rehabilitated among selectors (and juries) at the major European festivals.

Hong’s 2020 “The Woman Who Ran” earned Berlin’s silver bear for best director. His 2021 film “Introduction” won another silver bear, for best screenplay, at last year’s delayed festival. His other film from last year, “In Front of Your Face” played in competition in the July 2021 edition of the Cannes festival, but came away empty-handed.

His...

Byun Sung-hyun’s trajectory as a director has been an interesting one. Starting off with the low-key drama “The Beat Goes On”, he moved on with the sex comedy “Whatcha Wearin’?” Changing gears yet again, he directed the crime thriller “The Merciless”, which of course had its premiere and Cannes and was generally well-received by the audience. Cue four years later and his next project, the long-awaited “Kingmaker” is finally gearing up for a release in December, 2021, once again starring his “The Merciless” star Sol Kyung-gu, alongside Lee Sun-kyun.

Synopsis

A politician dreams of changing the world with an excellent campaign strategist behind.

Dreaming of changing the world, Seo Chang-dae takes part in Kim Woon-bum’s political campaign. To resist the current dictatorial ruling party, Seo adopts very aggressive propaganda campaign and it makes Kim become the strongest candidate in the opposition party. When ambitious Seo believes that unjustified means is necessary in politics,...

The New Zealand International Film Festival had to cancel the Auckland leg of its multi-city exhibition series, but will continue in Wellington and Christchurch and other regional stops with a diverse lineup that includes an impressive Asian selection.

Wellington will screen a total of 164 feature films from 51 countries over 18 days (Nov. 4-21) across its eight venues. Christchurch will screen 95 features from 37 countries.

International highlights include Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” Zhang Yimou’s “One Second,” and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Oscars contender Jasmila Zbanic’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?” Germany’s Oscar contender, Maria Schrader’s “I’m Your Man,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” and “My Salinger Year” also screen. So too does Jane Campion’s U.S.-set, New Zealand-made “The Power of the Dog.” The middle of the festival includes Cannes Palme D’or winner “Titane” and Paulo Sorrentino’s Venice grand...

Kim Hongsun is directing the film which is currently shooting in Korea and the Philippines.

South Korean sales agency Finecut is launching international sales on Project Wolf Hunting at the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm). The film is directed by Kim Hongsun, known for stylised genre films such as Metamorphosis (2019), The Chase (2017) and The Con Artist (2014).

His new film is about a cargo ship that embarks on a special mission known as ’Project Wolf Hunting’ to transport the most atrocious convicts from Manila to Busan. When prisoners start a riot onboard, the 1,630-mile journey quickly devolves into a floating, self-contained...

Leading Korean film sales agent Finecut has taken international rights to stylish genre actioner “Project Wolf Hunting.” The company will launch it at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents and Film Market which starts at the weekend.

Directed by Kim Hongsun, the film is set on board a cargo ship which is being used to transport dangerous criminals from Manila in the Philippines to Busan, South Korea. An escape attempt leads to a riot which in turn unleashes a sinister force.

Kim is known for delivering stylized genre films including “Metamorphosis” (2019), “The Chase” (2017), and “The Con Artist” (2014). For “Project Wolf Hunting” he has assembled a cast of Korean rising stars including Seo In-guk (“Pipeline” and TV’s “Doom At Your Service”) and Jang Dong-yoon (TV’s “Search” and “The Tale of Nokdu”) as two protagonists, alongside veteran actors Choi Guyhwa and Sung Dong-il in leading roles.

Currently shooting in Korea and The Philippines,...

Above: US release poster for Flee. Illustrations by Mikkel Sommer and Kenneth Ladekjaer; art direction by Martin Hultman.Since 2010, on the last Friday of every September, I have gathered all the posters for the films in the main slate of the New York Film Festival. Last year, six months into the pandemic, I didn’t do it. There was a New York Film Festival, and there was a main slate, but with most of the films only screening online, it just didn’t seem like the real thing and my heart wasn’t in it. This year the NYFF is back and entirely Irl and, although we’re still not out of the pandemic woods, I feel that the wonderful new poster for Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee is emblematic of the moment: people, lots of them,, coming together. Aside from the Flee poster, the highlights of this year would...

The New York Film Festival organizers have set the main slate for this fall’s largely in-person 59th edition, as well as enhanced pandemic measures including a Covid-19 vaccine requirement.

The 32 films in the Main Slate were produced in 31 different countries, reflecting New York’s decades-long reputation as a curator of global cinema. In recent years, it has also has shown it can enhance the imprimatur of an awards-season hopeful.

Consistent with New York City’s vaccine mandate, which takes effect September 13, the festival said proof of vaccination will be required for all staff, audiences, and filmmakers at fest venues. The event will also adhere to health and safety policies in coordination with Lincoln Center and state and city medical experts.

Among the films in the main slate (see the full list below) are Cannes prize winners Cannes prizewinners Titane, Ahed’s Knee, Memoria and The Worst Person in the World.

The New York Film Festival has revealed the full lineup for its 59th edition, including Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Todd Haynes’ “The Velvet Underground” and more.

“Titane” won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Other Cannes prizewinners featured on this year’s slate include Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” and Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World.” Directors Alexandre Koberidze, Kira Kovalenko, Rebecca Hall, Panah Panahi, Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyma have films in the festival for the first time.

“Taken together, the movies in this year’s Main Slate are a reminder of cinema’s world-making possibilities,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF director of programming and chair of the main slate selection committee. “They open up new ways of seeing and feeling and thinking, and whether or not they refer to our uncertain present,...

The New York Film Festival has rounded out its lineup with a main slate of 32 films, adding buzzy festival titles such as Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Palme D’Or winner “Titane” and Rebecca Hall’s Sundance darling “Passing.”

“Benedetta” is one of the new titles making its North American premiere at NYFF, as well as two films by South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo including “Introduction” and “In Front Of Your Face.” Sangsoo is making his 16th and 17th appearance at the festival with his two films. Other North American premieres include Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?” from director Alexandre Koberidze.

They join the previously announced world premiere of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” as the opening night film, Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” as the centerpiece and the North American premiere of “Parallel Mothers” from Pedro Almodóvar...

Hong Sangsoo characters have a habit of — you might even say a genius for — diffidence in the face of profundity. In that way, they’re very like the films in which they appear: outwardly casual, slight, polite, holding pain and truth and existential observation in check with an airy gesture, a sad smile or, in “In Front of Your Face,” the South Korean auteur’s second film this year (after the Berlin-awarded “Introduction”), an unexpected peal of utterly genuine, soul-repairing laughter.

Certainly, Sangok laughs at the strangest moments. A merry, musical gurgle bursts from her after she drunkenly shares her most painful secret — one she has not even confessed to her sister — with a relative stranger, whose sobbing response is much more appropriate. And again, at the very end of this wonderful, winsome tale, when the potentially important grace-note opportunity she’s been offered evaporates over a single phone message,...

After a pandemic-forced cancellation last year, Cannes Film Festival made a triumphant return this year, featuring some premieres pegged for the 2020 edition as well as a new crop of work. While our coverage will continue over the next week or so, and far beyond as we provide updates on the journey of these selections, we’ve asked our contributors on the ground to share their favorites from this year’s festival.

See their picks below and explore all of our coverage here.

Rory O’Connor

1. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

2. Vortex (Gaspar Noé)

3. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

4. Titane (Julia Ducournau)

5. Compartment No. 6 (Juho Kuosmanen)

6. Red Rocket (Sean Baker)

7. Annette (Leos Carax)

8. The Tale of King Crab (Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis)

9. Great Freedom (Sebastian Meise)

10. Ahed’s Knee (Nadav Lapid)

Honorable Mention: The Hill Where The Lionesses Roar (Luàna Bajrami)

David Katz

1. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

2. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

3. In Front of Your Face...

By evidence, Hong Sangsoo may never make an Oki’s Movie or Hill of Freedom-type work again; our maestro is shooting for bigger emotional game. It’s fascinating to observe how idiosyncratic directors make their way towards the arthouse mainstream. With Hong, arguably, it’s come from two sources: less of a rigid fixation on male vanity, neurosis, and inebriation, coupled with plot summaries you could describe in a brief, eloquent sentence. Oki’s Movie, for instance, approaches a Faulkner-esque writer with its digressive intricacy; The Day He Arrives is like a fractal Groundhog Day. This is well-rehearsed, but there’s something to be said for emotional transparency and an examination of things “as they are,” to paraphrase dialogue from In Front of Your Face’s lead character. Another well-rehearsed question: are we yet again in self-portraiture mode, for someone with a Dorian Gray-like attic full of them?

Meet...

Not even a global pandemic could stop prolific South Korean director Hong Sangsoo, but his latest film deals with ideas and tensions that echo questions and perspectives brought to the surface by this global health crisis. Playing in the Cannes Premiere section of this year’s Festival de Cannes, “In Front of Your Face” only slowly reveals its hand.

Read More: Cannes Film Festival 2021 Preview: 25 Films To Watch

The film opens in a bare highrise apartment, where a beautiful woman watches another as she sleeps.

Continue reading ‘In Front Of Your Face’: Hong Sang-soo Poignant Drama Asks How To Live Happily In The Past, Present & Future [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

Small is beautiful and luminous in In Front of Your Face (Dangsin-Eolgul-Apeseo), the 11th film of South Korean writer-director Hong Sangsoo to be invited to Cannes. An easy film to overlook in its subtlety, it recounts a day in the life of a middle-aged actress who, on the pregnant cusp between life and death, agrees to meet a rather foolish film director in a cafe. Typical of Hong’s work, the laid-back anti-storytelling lets daily life flow slowly by without incident, until a revelatory twist in the last act gives the film its meaning. It will certainly appeal to his festival fan base ...

Small is beautiful and luminous in In Front of Your Face (Dangsin-Eolgul-Apeseo), the 11th film of South Korean writer-director Hong Sangsoo to be invited to Cannes. An easy film to overlook in its subtlety, it recounts a day in the life of a middle-aged actress who, on the pregnant cusp between life and death, agrees to meet a rather foolish film director in a cafe. Typical of Hong’s work, the laid-back anti-storytelling lets daily life flow slowly by without incident, until a revelatory twist in the last act gives the film its meaning. It will certainly appeal to his festival fan base ...

What initially appeared to some to be a bomb scare forced the partial evacuation of the Cannes Film Festival’s main venue, the Palais des Festivals, this afternoon. Police set up a security perimiter in the area surrounding the building, and shortly after 3Pm local time, a bomb squad destroyed a suspicious package outside, causing a slight explosion, France Info reported. The alert was subsequently called off with police tweeting a “return to normal.”

Earlier, technicians and people inside the wing closest to the port, as well as the Debussy theater to the right side of the Palais were evacuated, according to reports. Hong Sang-Soo’s Cannes Premiere entry In Front Of Your Face was due to screen in the Debussy from 3Pm. However, there was no disruption in the main Lumière cinema where Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s competition title Memoria, which stars Tilda Swinton, is having its official screening. Reports...