Director Park Chanwook's "No Other Choice"
Officially Invited to Venice Film Festival Competition
11th Korean Film to Compete, First Since "Pieta" in 2012
Director Park Chanwook's new film It Can't Be Helped has been invited to the competition section of the 82nd Venice Film Festival. Yonhap News
Director Park Chanwook's new film "No Other Choice" has been officially invited to the competition section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, which opens on August 27.
The Venice Film Festival executive committee announced in a live-streamed press conference on the 22nd (Korea Standard Time) that "No Other Choice" is among the 21 films selected for the competition section.
"No Other Choice" follows Mansoo, an office worker who is suddenly laid off, as he enters a fierce battle to find new employment in order to protect his family and home. The cast includes Lee Byunghun, Son Yejin, Park Heesoon, Lee Sungmin, Yum Hyeran, and Cha Seungwon.
The Venice Film Festival is considered one of the world's top three film festivals, alongside Cannes and Berlin. The competition section is the festival's core category, where major awards including the Golden Lion are presented.
With this invitation, "No Other Choice" becomes the 11th Korean film in history to compete in the Venice competition section. Previous Korean films invited to the competition include "The Surrogate Woman" (1987), "Lies" (1999), "The Isle" (2000), "Address Unknown" (2001), "Oasis" (2002), "A Good Lawyer's Wife" (2003), "3-Iron" (2004), "Low Life" (2004), "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" (2005), and "Pieta" (2012). It is the first Korean film to compete in the section in 13 years, since "Pieta."
Director Park was previously invited to the Venice Midnight Express section with "Three... Extremes" in 2004, and entered the competition section with "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" in 2005, winning the Young Lion Award, the Future Film Award, and the Most Innovative Film Award. Regarding this invitation, he stated, "I feel glad that I never gave up on this project over the years."
This year's competition section also includes "Bugonia," a remake of "Save the Green Planet!" (2003) co-produced by CJ ENM and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Other competition entries include "J. Kelly," starring George Clooney and directed by Noah Baumbach, and "Frankenstein," starring Oscar Isaac and directed by Guillermo del Toro.
The jury president is American director Alexander Payne, and the award results will be announced at the closing ceremony on September 6.
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