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There was a time when any great international actor tended to be reduced to their perceived Hollywood counterpart whenever they were discussed in the U.S. press. Under this outmoded prerogative, Korean screen icon Song Kang-ho easily could be described as his country’s simultaneous answer to both Marlon Brando and Tom Hanks, such is his seemingly contradictory blend of sardonic physicality, fearsome technique, lyrical humanism and overwhelming likability. Today, thankfully, it is sufficient to simply describe Song Kang-ho as Song Kang-ho: “One of the protean greats of world cinema — a master, end of,” as Tilda Swinton, a co-star with Song in Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer (2013), once summed him up in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

For global movie buffs, arguably one of the most exciting stories of the past 30 years has been the renaissance and growing global reach of Korean cinema — and no figure has been more...

Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho’s 2006 monster movie “The Host” is among Paris-based distributor The Jokers Films’ recent releases, made available for the first time ever as a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition.

The Jokers’ other new French release, the 4K restoration of Bruce Weber’s 1988 Chet Baker doc “Let’s Get Lost,” also screened at the Lumière Festival in Lyon with Weber in attendance.

Describing the film’s sound and 4K restoration as “sublime,” The Jokers head Manuel Chiche says, “‘Let’s Get Lost’ is now a timeless classic not only about life but also about art and creation.”

“Let’s Get Lost” is due to hit French theaters in summer 2024.

“The Host,” meanwhile, premiered earlier this year in France with a special screening, along with the Oscar-winning “Parasite,” and master class by Bong at Paris’ famed Grand Rex theater and also unspooled at the Institut Lumière in Lyon as part of a Bong retrospective.

by Bastian Meiresonne

“Cobweb”, Kim Jee-woon's tenth feature film, marks the director's return to comedy for the first time since the beginning of his career. This satire on the film industry is a true cinematic layer cake: one can dig into it with hearty bites for the sheer pleasure of the visual feast, or one can peel it apart, layer by layer, to unveil a fascinating portrayal of the dark period of Korean history in the 1970s and a profound introspection by the director on creativity and the filmmaking profession.

Kim Jee-woon began his career in the 1990s as an actor and a theater director before directing his debut feature film, “The Quiet Family”, in 1998. He is part of a new generation of filmmakers, along with Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook, who no longer followed the traditional apprenticeship model of old studios, but are authentic cinephiles who came to cinema out of pure passion.

South Korean director Kim Jee-woon’s much anticipated period comedy drama Cobweb has kicked off the Cannes market with a slew of international sales. Set to premiere in Cannes in an out-of-competition slot on May 25, Cobweb stars Song Kang-ho (Parasite) as a filmmaker frantically trying to finish the movie he believes will be his masterpiece.

International sales for the film, distributed and sold by Seoul-based Barunson E&a, so far include Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Taiwan (MovieCloud), Hong Kong/Macau (Edko Films), Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand – Clover Films), France and French-speaking territories (The Jokers Films, handled by Finecut), German-speaking territories and Italy (Plaion Pictures), Spain (La Aventura), Cis (Arna Media), Middle East (Phars Film), India (Impact Films), ex-Yugoslavia (Cinemania), Worldwide Inflight (Anuvu/Emphasis). The film is produced by Sll’s Anthology Studios.

Set in South Korea during the politically repressive 1970s, Cobweb centers on a director named Kim (Song...

Finecut will handle French-speaking territories.

South Korea’s Barunson E&a is set to launch sales on director Kim Jee-woon’s much-anticipated drama and black comedy Cobweb, starring Cannes best actor awardee Song Kang-ho of Broker, at the European Film Market (EFM).

The recently launched sales unit of the production company behind Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning Parasite will handle the film’s international sales excluding French-speaking territories, which will be handled by leading independent Korean sales agent Finecut.

The film is produced by Anthology Studios, Barunson Studio (an affiliate of Barunson E&a), and Luz y Sonidos.

Cobweb has been...

Veteran producer has signed up for three years.

In South Korea, Gangneung International Film Festival (Giff) has appointed veteran producer Oh Jung-wan its new festival director.

Her three-year term is effective from today (April 12) and will run until March 2025.

An important figure in the renaissance of Korean cinema in the 1990s, Oh’s early executive producer credits include seminal films such as The Marriage Life (1992), The Gingko Bed (1996) and An Affair (1998).

She founded Bom Film Productions in 1999 and went on to produce titles such as Kim Jee-woon’s The Foul King (2000), A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003) and A Bittersweet Life...

One of South Korea’s biggest stars, Song Kang-ho worked with Hong Sang-soo, Park Chan-wook, Lee Chang-dong, Kim Jee-woon, and Bong Joon-ho before he catapulted into even greater fame with the lattermost director’s Best Picture winner Parasite. Now, for a new feature, he’ll be reuniting with the aforementioned Kim Jee-woon.

Variety reports that the project is titled Cobweb, described by the director as an “experimental” work that will be shot entirely on sound stages and features a film-within-a-film narrative. Written by Shin Yeon-shick, who was originally set to direct, the film will reportedly feature black-and-white and color photography in the same frames, but no plot details are known at this stage.

Song and Kim previously collaborated on The Quiet Family, The Foul King, The Good, The Bad, The Weird, and The Age of Shadows. Their fifth collaboration, Cobweb, will mark the first film made by Song and Kim’s production company Anthology Studios.

“Parasite” star Song Kang-ho will reteam for the fifth time with leading Korean director Kim Jee-woon on their upcoming feature film “Cobweb.”

Kim describes the project as “experimental” and said that it will be shot entirely on sound stages in support of a film-within-a-film narrative.

The film will be the first project to emerge from Anthology Studios, a production house co-founded earlier this year by Kim, Song and Jay Choi, an executive who was previously local production head for Warner Bros Korea. The company had barely been launched before it was acquired for KRW20 billion (approximately $18 million) by Jtbc Studios, a subsidiary of Korean pay-tv network Jtbc.

Anthology aims to produce films and work with talented rookie directors who Kim will mentor. The trio were all previously involved with stylish caper comedy “The Good, The Bad, The Weird,” which debuted in Cannes in 2008, and “The Age of Shadows,” which debuted...

Jumping from Japan to France for The Truth, we learned last summer that Hirokazu Koreeda will next leap to a Korean production with Broker. Featuring the all-star cast of Song Kang-ho (Parasite), Bae Doona, Kang Dong-won (Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula), and the popular artist Iu aka Lee Ji-eun, the director has now secured another major talent in Korean cinema.

Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo will shoot the film, which begins production this month. Having begun his career with Kim Ji-woon’s The Foul King, starring Song Kang-ho, this project marks yet another reunion with the cinematographer and actor, following Snowpiercer and Parasite. Along with another Bong production, Mother, Hong Kyung-pyo has also shot Lee Chang-dong’s Burning and Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing.

The story of Broker will center on baby boxes, in which parents who aren’t able to provide for their babies anonymously give them up. Check out Hirokazu...

Power trio’s new outfit will produce or co-produce all of Kim Jee-woon’s upcoming films.

Former Warner Bros Korea Local Production head Jay Choi has formed a production company with director Kim Jee-woon and Parasite star Song Kang-ho, Anthology Studios, which has immediately been snapped up by cable broadcaster Jtbc Studios.

Speaking to Screendaily, Choi said: “The Jtbc Studios deal happened before we were even properly set up to announce the new company.

“We will be a part of the Jtbc family now, but fundamentally, Anthology Studios is co-founded by director Kim Jee-woon, who will be doing all his...

“Parasite” star Song Kang-ho will head the cast of airborne disaster action move “Emergency Declaration.” Jeon Do-yeon and Lee Byung-hun co-star, making “Declaration” one of the powerful casts ever assembled in a Korean movie.

The film is in pre-production and aiming for an end-of-year release. Leading studio Showbox will begin pre-sales during this week’s European Film Market.

Showbox pitches it as ”an airborne blockbuster about an aircraft forced to declare an emergency when an unprecedented terror incident occurs in-flight.” It is to be directed by Han Jae-rim, who previously enjoyed success with “The King” and the Song-starring 2013 drama “The Face Reader.”

Jeon won a best actor award at Cannes in 2007 for “Secret Sunshine,” and has other credits that include “Untold Scandal” and “The Housemaid.” Lee is one of Korea’s finest thespians and a rarity who has managed to build a career on both sides of the Pacific. His...

Locarno Film Festival have announced that South Korean superstar Song Kang-ho will be honoured with the Excellence Award at the 72nd edition of the Swiss festival in August this year, making him the first person from Asia to receive the award.

Song Kang-ho is an eclectic, versatile, graceful actor, who has been able to conquer South Korean cinema and then access the world of international stardom, and to whom the Locarno Film Festival will bestow the Excellence Award. His artistic birth can be traced back to the late 1990s, in Hong Sang-soo’s “The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well”, and his career path was laid down in the early 2000s. After “The Quiet Family”, he reteamed with Kim Jee-woon for “The Foul King”, causing audiences to stare in amazement at performances based on versatility and physical skill. This has been the case for twenty years’ worth of film sets,...