'Decision to Leave' Park Chan-wook Wins Best Director at Cannes Film Festival... Third Trophy

"COVID-19, an Opportunity to Realize the Importance of Movies... Infinite Love for Park Hae-il and Tang Wei"

On the 28th (local time), director Park Chan-wook received the Best Director Award at the 75th Cannes International Film Festival ceremony held at the Lumi?re Grand Theatre in Cannes, France. Photo by AFP

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Director Park Chan-wook won the Best Director Award in the competition section at the 75th Cannes International Film Festival for 'Decision to Leave.' This is his third award following the Jury Prize for 'Oldboy' and the Jury Award for 'Thirst.'

On the 28th (local time), the 75th Cannes International Film Festival, which concluded, announced that Director Park Chan-wook won the Best Director Award in the competition section for his new film 'Decision to Leave.'

At the awards ceremony held at the Lumi?re Grand Theatre in Cannes, Director Park walked up to the stage with a smiling face when his name was called and calmly delivered his acceptance speech. He said, "Although borders have become stricter due to COVID-19, we have shared the same worries during this time," adding, "Theaters also faced difficulties because of COVID-19, but we realized what theaters mean to us."

He continued, "I believe filmmakers will forever protect movie theaters and films," and expressed gratitude, saying, "I would like to thank Vice Chairman CJ E&M Lee Mi-kyung and writer Jung Seo-kyung for their unwavering support. My love for Park Hae-il and Tang Wei is beyond words, so I will omit it. Thank you."

The film 'Decision to Leave,' which won the Best Director Award, is a classic detective story about Seo-rae (played by Tang Wei), a woman suspected of murdering her husband, and Haejun (played by Park Hae-il), the detective investigating her. It is scheduled to be released domestically on June 29.

This is Director Park's third award at the Cannes Film Festival, following the Jury Prize for 'Oldboy' (2004) and the Jury Award for 'Thirst' (2009).

Korean films have received awards at the Cannes International Film Festival as follows: Best Director for 'Chihwaseon' (Director Im Kwon-taek) in 2002, Jury Prize for 'Oldboy' (Director Park Chan-wook) in 2004, Best Actress for Jeon Do-yeon in 'Secret Sunshine' (Director Lee Chang-dong) in 2007, Jury Award for 'Thirst' (Director Park Chan-wook) in 2009, Best Screenplay for 'Poetry' (Director Lee Chang-dong) in 2010, and the Palme d'Or for 'Parasite' (Director Bong Joon-ho) in 2019.