Ordinary Hanyang University student Shin Si-a’s world was turned upside down when she was selected out of 1,408 actors to play protagonist So-nyeo in “The Witch: Part 2. The Other One.” The film is the sequel to Park Hoon-jung’s hit “The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion,” released in 2018. In her very first group interview with local reporters, the 25-year-old actor recalled the moment she heard from director Park after the audition. “I knew that if I go

Disney+ on Monday announced that “Oldboy” actor Choi Min-sik and rising star Son Suk-ku will star in the upcoming drama “Casino.” According to Disney+, this is Choi’s first performance in a drama series in 24 years, when he appeared on MBC‘s “Love and Farewell” (1997-1998). Since then he has only worked on big-screen projects, including “Oldboy” directed by Park Chan-wook, “Nameless Gangster” directed by Yoon Jong-bin and &

Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival on Friday announced that it will hold in-person events at the festival year, slated to take place from July 7 to 17. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the fest had been holding opening and closing ceremonies, as well as a red carpet event at various locations in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, such as Bucheon City Hall and Bucheon Gymnasium. During the last two years, the fest had been downsized with all in-person events without audiences, and the openin

South Korea’s biggest cinema chain CJ CGV will hold special screenings of seven movies with Cannes-winning director Park Chan-wook and actor Song Kang-ho, from Thursday to June 29. “To celebrate director Park Chan-wook and actor Song Kang-ho winning the awards, we created this special screening event to share a meaningful achievement of Korean cinema which raised its reputation,” CGV official Yeo Kwang-jin said in a statement released Thursday. “I hope audiences can take

Broker (Korea) Opened June 8 Drama Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda So-young (IU) leaves her child in a baby box in front of a church. Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) secretly steal the baby to sell him to a family who cannot legally adopt. So-young returns to the church the next day to retrieve the baby and finds out that Sang-hyun and Dong-soo have taken the child. Soon, So-young and the two men agree to look for the right parents for the baby together. After Yang (Ko

After appearing in Oscar-winning “Parasite” (2019), as well as becoming the first Korean to win best actor award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival for his role in “Broker” (2022) in May, Song Kang-ho is now at the center of global attention. Song, however, said he does not have any plans to do projects overseas, adding that he decided to perform in “Broker” because it is being produced in his home country. “After ‘Parasite’ I got lots of o

Korean actor Bae Doo-na, 42, expressed regret over not being able to take part in promotional events for “Broker,” as she is currently filming Zack Snyder’s new sci-fi saga for Netflix, “Rebel Moon,” during an interview with local reporters via Zoom on Wednesday. Bae also could not be present at the 75th Cannes Film Festival where Song won the award for best actor for his role in “Broker.” “It is too bad that I could not make it to Cannes this

Director Park Hoon-jung’s “The Witch” universe is expanding further with new characters, upgraded special powers and storyline in “The Witch: Part 2. The Other One.” Park’s “The Witch”, released in 2018, features the story of a seemingly ordinary girl named Ja-yoon (Kim Da-mi) who wins top prize on a TV audition program. After her victory, a series of unusual people enter Ja-yoon’s life, including the mysterious scientist, Dr. Baek. The s

Seoul Independent Film Festival will take part in film screening events to introduce Korean independent movies in Spain and Hong Kong. The SIFF will introduce selected independent Korean films at Korea Fest BCN 2022, held at Cinemes Boliche in Barcelona, Spain for five days from June 15 to 19. There will be an Indie Seoul section during the film festival in Spain, which will screen five selected works among films that were screened at the SIFF, including “Fighter,” directed by J

Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film “Broker” does not hide the key question that the director wants to ask the audience: Should mothers take all the blame for abandoning their children in “baby boxes”? “At the beginning of the movie, Soo-jin (played by Bae Doo-na) says ‘if you are going to abandon a newborn, you should not have given a birth to him.’ This shows that there is a kind of prejudice toward mothers. The film starts from the

Hommage (Korea) Opened May 26 Drama Directed by Shin Su-won Director Ji-wan (Lee Jung-eun) is in a slump. She aims to entice 200,000 patrons to her new film but finds it difficult to reach her goal. Her family provides little support. One day Ji-wan gets a part-time job restoring an old film about the country‘s first female judge created by first-generation female director Hong Eun-won. Through this process, her passion for filmmaking is renewed. The Red Herring (Korea) Opened May

Feedback from Korean audiences for his new thriller-romance film “Decision to Leave” is more important than winning a trophy at Cannes Film Festival, director Park Chan-wook said during a press conference held at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul on Thursday. Park won the best director award for his new film on May 28 at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in southern France. “This film, in particular, is different from my previous work in that it has many elements that only Ko

Actor Song Kang-ho recalled what it was like to receive the best actor award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, a first for a Korean male, during a press conference for the film held Tuesday, just a day after returning from France. “Very few get to receive awards at Cannes. Only seven out of 21 movies (in competition) get awards. Before midnight, those seven films get a notice that they will receive awards. So I was really nervous before midnight,” Song said during the press confere

Song Kang-ho recalled what it was like to receive the country’s first best actor award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival during the first press conference for the film held after he returned from France on Tuesday. “Very few get to receive awards at Cannes. Only seven out of 21 movies (in competition) get awards. Before midnight those seven films get a notice that they will receive awards. So I was really nervous before midnight,” Song said during the press conference held at

CJ ENM is likely to hit the box office jackpot as an investment distributor of two films -- “Decision to Leave” and “Broker” -- which won major titles at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, film critics said. Park Chan-wook won best director for “Decision to Leave” and Song Kang-ho won best actor for “Broker” at Cannes on Saturday. Some local film critics predicted that CJ ENM could sell as many tickets as it did pre-pandemic in 2019 with the two fi