Inviting only one way...Director Yeon Sang-ho's face → Jeon Dok-si failed to advance to the Cannes Film Festival this year

By Soyoon, Ahn

Apr 10, 2025

Inviting only one way...Director Yeon Sang-ho's face → Jeon Dok-si failed to advance to the Cannes Film Festival this year
Photo provided by Lotte Entertainment



This year, Korean movies did not receive a single one-way call.

The secretariat of the Cannes International Film Festival held an official press conference at the UGC Montparnas Theater in Paris on the 10th (Korean time) and announced the official list of invited films at the 78th Cannes International Film Festival (hereinafter referred to as the Cannes Film Festival). The press conference was attended by Iris Knobloch, chairman of the organizing committee, and Thierry Premo, chairman of the executive committee.

Inviting only one way...Director Yeon Sang-ho's face → Jeon Dok-si failed to advance to the Cannes Film Festival this year
photo courtesy of PlusM Entertainment
This year, Korean films were not invited to both competitive and non-competitive categories at the Cannes Film Festival. Director Yeon Sang-ho's new work 'Face' and films starring Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Min-ho'Omniscient Director View' (Director Kim Byung-woo), and films starring Gong Hyo-jin and Park So-dam'Gyeongju Travel' (Director Kim Mi-jo) were submitted, but unfortunately, they failed to advance. Director Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite', which was invited to the competition section in 2019, won the Palme d'Or. In 2022, director Park Chan-wook won the Best Actor Award for his "Decision to Break Up" and Song Kang-ho won the Best Actor Award for his "Broker". However, for the next three years, Korean films failed to advance into the competition category for the third consecutive year.




Last year, director Ryu Seung-wan was officially invited to the Midnight Screening category with the film 'Veteran 2' and walked the red carpet in Cannes for the first time in 19 years. Midnight Screening, a non-competitive category, is a section that selectively screens a small number of works that combine work and popularity among genre films such as action, fantasy, horror, noir, thriller, etc. Korean films have been invited to the Midnight Screening category for three consecutive years, following 'Hunt' (2022), 'Escape: Project Silence' (PRODUCT SILENCE, 2023).

Meanwhile, the 78th Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 13 to 24 in Cannes, France






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