▲ This file photo shows Director Hong, who won the Silver Bear Award for Best Jury at the Berlinale for 'The Novelist's Film.' (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) – South Korean Director Hong Sang-soo will be heading to the 73rd Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale), which will be opened in February, with his new film “In Water” being shortlisted for the Encounters section.

The executive committee unveiled the main Competition and Encounters selections for the upcoming Festival in a press conference that was held in Berlin, Germany on Monday (local time). There are a total of 16 films shortlisted for the Encounters section, including “In Water.”

This section, titled “Encounters,” was established in 2020 as an integral part of the Berlinale. Similar to the “Un Certain Regard” selections in the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlinale’s Encounters also introduces newcomers in this category. Conceived as a complement to the main Competition section, Encounters is a competitive section devoted to fostering aesthetically and structurally daring works from independent, revolutionary filmmakers.

“Director Hong Sang-soo does not need to be introduced,” said Carlo Chatrian, the artistic director of the Festival, during the online press conference. “His ‘In Water’ has no other un necessities, as usual, and the Director even chose a much stronger way to illustrate his plot.”

Director Hong has been dubbed a “Berlin regular” since he has been entering the Competition section of the Berlinale six times since he made his entrance with “Night and Day” (2008).

Among those that were shortlisted, four films won an award at the Festival, including “On the Beach at Night Alone” (Silver Bear Award for Best Leading Performance), “The Woman Who Ran” (Silver Bear Award for Best Director), “Introduction” (Silver Bear Award for Best Screenplay), “The Novelist’s Film” (Silver Bear Award for Best Jury).

The Berlin Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, is deemed one of the world’s most renowned three film festivals along with Cannes and Venice. This year’s Festival will be held from Feb. 16 to 26.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

(END)

 

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]