'Pamyoh' Invited to Chinese Film Festival... Sold Out in an Instant

The film "Pamy?," which surpassed 10 million viewers domestically, has been invited to the Beijing International Film Festival in China, and tickets sold out immediately upon the start of reservations, drawing significant attention.

According to the Beijing International Film Festival website on the 15th, all seats for the five scheduled screenings of "Pamy?" during the festival period have been sold out. Reservations for submissions and invited works at the Beijing International Film Festival began at noon that day. In the case of "Pamy?," most seats were sold as soon as reservations opened, quickly resulting in a sell-out.

Movie 'Pamyo' Still [Photo by Showbox]

On Chinese social networking services (SNS), posts seeking "Pamy?" tickets also appeared. Some netizens left comments such as, "If anyone has reserved a ticket but cannot attend, please transfer it even if it is just one ticket," and "I am looking for two 'Pamy?' tickets even with a slight premium."

Previously, "Pamy?" was illegally distributed in China before its official release, with hundreds of people openly leaving viewing impressions on movie review sites. At that time, some local netizens who watched "Pamy?" without authorization mocked the scenes where Chinese characters were written on the actors' faces, calling it "ridiculous" or saying, "Writing on faces is something only criminals do," sparking controversy.

Since the deployment of THAAD in 2016, China has maintained the 'Hanhanryeong' (Korean Wave Restriction Order) policy limiting the import of Korean content. Since 2017, the only Korean film released in China was "Oh! Moon-hee" in 2021.

[Photo by Seokyungdeok, Professor at Sungshin Women's University, Facebook]

In this context, a total of five Korean films, including "Pamy?," were invited to this year's Beijing International Film Festival. "Pamy?" was invited to the Carnival Midnight Thrill section of the festival, while Hong Sang-soo’s "The Novelist’s Film," which won the Jury Grand Prix at the Berlin International Film Festival, was screened in the Dimension section. Additionally, Kim Hye-young’s "It’s Okay, It’s Okay, It’s Okay!," Kim Yong-gyun’s "Picnic," starring Na Moon-hee and Kim Young-ok, and Park Hong-jun’s independent film "What Must Be Done" were also invited. These works were invited to the Panorama section, which is a non-competitive category without awards.

Meanwhile, as of the 15th, "Pamy?" has surpassed a cumulative audience of approximately 11.61 million, surpassing "Train to Busan" to become the 14th highest-grossing Korean film in history.