Korean Movies Invited to 76th Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival, regarded as the world's most prestigious film festival, will commence in about ten days.

Although no Korean films were invited to the Compétition (Competition) section this year, the global audience can still expect to see seven new Korean movies presented at the festival.

Among them, the most notable Korean film at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, which starts on May 16, is director  Kim Jee Woon's Cobweb invited to the non-competition section.

The film tells the story of a director named Kim (Song Kang Ho) who is obsessed with creating a masterpiece and struggles to re-shoot his movie's climax amid government censorship and the actors' uncooperative attitudes.

Director Kim's previous movies, which have been invited to the non-competition section are A Bittersweet Life (2004) and The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008).

The Hallyu star Song Joong Ki will make his debut on Cannes' red carpet with director Kim Chang Hoon's debut feature Hopeless. 

Hopeless is a noir film that tells the story of a boy who wants to escape from his hellish reality, and then becomes involved in the underworld. The movie was invited to the Un Certain Regard section.  

Films invited to Un Certain Regard can receive awards such as the main award, jury prize, and director's award. 

Director Hong Sang Soo, a regular at Cannes, will conclude the Director's Week with his new work,  In Our Day. 

The Director's Week is a section that features unconventional and innovative works, and In Our Day has been selected as the closing film. 

Actor Lee Sun Kyun is invited to Cannes for his two upcoming films, Sleep and Project: Silence.

Sleep is director Yoo Jae Sun's first feature, and it has been invited to Cannes Critics' Week, a parallel Cannes section where the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics selects new and innovative films. 

The film depicts the story of a newlywed couple who try to overcome the terrible fear of nightmares they experience when they fall asleep.

Directed by Kim Tae Gon, Project: Silence will be screened at the Midnight Screening, which presents films from various genres such as action, thriller, noir, fantasy, and horror.

Project: Silence is a story of people trapped on an airport bridge in a thick, unidentifiable fog, facing the threat of collapse and fighting to survive an unexpected chain of disasters.

It is also noteworthy that two short films were invited to the La Cinef (Cine Foundation) section, which features the works of film school students.

The Korea National University of Arts (KAFA) director Hwang Hye In's The Hall and Brothers of the Lee Family, a graduation film directed by Jeong Mi Seo from the Department of Film at Korea National University of Arts, were included in the invited films.

Three prizes (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) are given to the three most outstanding works out of the 16 films competing at La Cinef.

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