From dramas to music, the status of K -content is rising day by day, but Korean films, which led the global boom of K-content led by ‘Parasite’, seem to be facing a crisis.Korean films, which failed to advance to the competition section of the Cannes International Film Festival for two consecutive years, suffered the humiliation of not being able to advance even a single film to the non-competition section this year.

On the afternoon of the 10th(Korean time), the Cannes International Film Festival announced the films to be screened at the 78th festival, which will be held in Cannes, France from May 13th to 24th.Not a single Korean film was selected for the competition section, which is eligible to win the Palme d ‘Or, or even for the non-competition section.

It has been 12 years since 2013 that a Korean feature film was not invited to the competition or non-competition section.In 2013, the 13-minute short film’ Safe ‘directed by Moon Byung-gon was the only one invited to the short film competition section and won the’ Golden Palm Award ‘, the highest award in the short film category.

Prior to this announcement,’ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ‘starring Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Min-ho, and’ Gyeongju Trip ‘starring Gong Hyo-jin and Lee Jung-eun were submitted for an invitation to Cannes, but were not selected.Director Yeon Sang-ho’s new film ‘Face’, which has been selected for Cannes twice before with ‘Train to Busan’ in 2015 and ‘Peninsula’ in 2020, is aiming for a third invitation, but has failed to advance, causing shock.

Director Park Chan-wook’s new film ‘Eortnite’ and director Na Hong-jin’s ‘Hope’, which were predicted to be strong candidates for this year’s Cannes International Film Festival, are both in post-production and have reportedly not been submitted to the festival.’Eortnite’ is targeting the Venice International Film Festival in August, while ‘Hope’ is expected to target Cannes next year.

Industry insiders share the view that the “Korean film crisis” revealed by the failure to advance to the Cannes International Film Festival this year has in fact been going on for three years.In 2019, Director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” won the Palme d’Or, and in 2022, Director Park Chan-wook and Song Kang-ho won the Best Director and Best Actor awards for “Decision to Leave” and “Broker,” respectively, but have failed to advance to the competition category since 2023.There are even mocking concerns that if Directors Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook do not release new films, Korean films will not be able to advance to the Cannes competition.


Reporter Seungmi smlee@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.