The films ‘Hope’ and ‘Cluster’ are set to overcome the disappointment of last year’s absence of Korean films at Cannes.
On April 9, the 79th Cannes Film Festival Executive Committee held a press conference to announce its official selections.
Previously, no Korean films received invitations to any section of last year’s 78th Cannes Film Festival. This led to high anticipation for the invitations for Na Hong-jin’s ‘Hope’, Yeon Sang-ho’s ‘Cluster’, and other films.
Yeon Sang-ho’s film ‘Cluster’ received an invitation to the Midnight Screenings section.
‘Cluster’ depicts the struggle of isolated survivors in a quarantined building during an unidentified infection outbreak against evolving infected individuals.
Director Yeon Sang-ho has previously walked the Cannes red carpet with the animated film ‘The King of Pigs’, ‘Train to Busan’, and its sequel ‘Peninsula’.
The upcoming release of ‘Cluster’ marks lead actress Jun Ji-hyun’s return to the screen after 11 years, a cause for further celebration.
Na Hong-jin’s new film ‘Hope’ garnered an official invitation to the competition section. This marks the first time in four years that a Korean film has entered the competition section, following ‘Decision to Leave’ and ‘Broker’ in 2022.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival holds special significance as Park Chan-wook will serve as the first Korean jury president for the competition section.
Director Na Hong-jin continues his streak at Cannes. His debut, ‘The Chaser,’ received an invitation to the Midnight Screenings section in 2008, followed by ‘The Yellow Sea’ in the Un Certain Regard section in 2011, and ‘The Wailing’ in the Out of Competition section in 2016. With ‘Hope’ marking his fourth consecutive invitation, the festival has now selected all of his feature films.
With ‘Hope’s’ invitation to the competition section, Director Na Hong-jin achieves the rare distinction of having all of his feature films invited to the Cannes Film Festival. He expressed, “I am honored. I will work hard with the remaining time.”
The film ‘Hope’ tells the story of ‘Beom-seok,’ the head of the Ho-Po branch located in the Demilitarized Zone, who is alerted to a tiger sighting by local youth, leading to a village-wide emergency.
The 79th Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 12 to 23 in Cannes, a resort city in southern France.
Image source: Xportsnews DB, Plus M Entertainment
