Berlin Film Festival Opens... Hong Sangsoo, Kim Minhee, Jeon Do-yeon, and Yoo Tae-oh Attend

'In the Water'·'Gil Bok-soon' and 3 Other Korean Films
Several Works by Korean-American Directors and Actors Invited

The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival opens on the 16th (local time). Director Hong Sangsoo and actors Kim Minhee, Jeon Do-yeon, and Yoo Taeoh will attend.

Hong's 29th feature film, In Front of Your Face, has been invited to the Encounters section of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, held in Berlin, Germany, until the 26th.

[Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

The Encounters section, newly established last year to showcase new cinematic visions, is a competitive category presenting fiction and documentaries that challenge traditional forms. Awards for Best Film, Best Director, and Special Jury Prize are given through judging, distinguishing it from the main competition section.

Director Hong has been invited to the Berlin International Film Festival for four consecutive years with The Woman Who Ran (2020), Introduction (2021), and The Novelist's Film (2022). At the festival, he received the Silver Bear for Best Actress (Kim Minhee) for On the Beach at Night Alone (2017), the Silver Bear for Best Director for The Woman Who Ran at the 70th festival, the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for Introduction at the 71st, and the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize for The Novelist's Film.

In Front of Your Face tells the story of a man who dreamed of becoming an actor and travels to an island with male and female students from the same school to direct a film. Actors Shin Seokho, Ha Seongguk, and Kim Seungyun star in the film, with Kim Minhee participating as the production manager. The actors will attend the Berlin Film Festival alongside Director Hong and Kim Minhee. The official screening will be held on the 22nd at 5 p.m. at the local Academy of Arts.

Hong Sangsoo and Kim Minhee, who attended a retrospective at the Paris Cin?math?que on the 13th, moved to Berlin, Germany, to participate in the festival schedule until the 26th.

Korean works invited to the festival include the Netflix film Gilibsoon (Special section) and Regardless of Us (Forum), and several works involving Korean-descended directors and actors have also been invited.

Director Byun Sung-hyun and actors Jeon Do-yeon and Kim Sia, invited to the Special section with the Netflix film Gilibsoon, departed on the 16th. The film is an action movie about Gilibsoon, a legendary hitwoman in the contract killing industry, who gets caught in an unavoidable confrontation just before renewing her contract with the company.

Director Yoo Hyungjun's feature debut Regardless of Us depicts the story of middle-aged actress Hwaryeong, who cannot attend the preview screening of her first leading role due to a stroke. Actor Kwak Mingyu and others will attend the Berlin Film Festival.

'Fast Lives' stills
[Photo by Sundance Film Festival]

Canadian-Korean director Celine Song's film Past Lives, invited to the competition section, stars Yoo Taeoh, who traveled to Germany to attend the festival events on the 18th and 19th. The film tells the story of two friends who separated when one emigrated to Canada and reunite in New York after 20 years, spending a fateful week together. CJ ENM and the American Hollywood studio A24 jointly invested in and distributed the film.

The film was invited to the 39th Sundance Film Festival and received attention, earning a 4-star rating from the British media outlet The Guardian and being selected as "a notable film of the year." Yoo Taeoh said, "I am curious how American and European audiences will evaluate the film," and added, "It feels amazing that my dream of working simultaneously in Korea and abroad is becoming a reality."

Additionally, Canadian-Korean director Lloyd Lee Choi's Closing Dynasty (Generation), director Choi Malrin's Still Life (Panorama), and The Green Knight (Panorama), directed by Han Shuai and starring actor Lee Jooyoung, were invited.

The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival opens today and runs until the 26th in Berlin, Germany. It is considered one of the world's top three film festivals alongside Cannes and Venice. This year's opening film is She Came to Me, directed by Rebecca Miller.