AFM 2022: hot projects from Korea

Big Sleep

Dir. Kim Taehoon

This feature directing debut from Kim received its world premiere in Busan International Film Festival’s Korean Cinema — Visions section, where it picked up a hat-trick of awards including an actor prize for Kim Youngsung. The story follows a taciturn man who takes in a teenager who has run away from home because of domestic violence, and the conflicts they go through as each seeks salvation to heal from their troubled pasts.
Contact: M-Line Distribution

A Birth

Dir. Park Heung-sik

Yoon Si-yoon (Mr. Perfect) stars in this historical drama as Korea’s first Catholic priest who set out across land and sea to study in Macau and open the Joseon dynasty’s doors to equality. Ahn Sung-ki (Hansan: Rising Dragon), Yun Gyeong-ho, Lee Mun-sik and Kim Kang-woo (The Vanished) also star. Produced by Min Film, A Birth is in post with release scheduled for later this year.
Contact: Contents Panda

Ditto

Dir. Seo Eun-young

This time-loop romantic fantasy from the director of Go Back stars Yeo Jin-goo (TV’s Hotel Del Luna), Cho Yi-hyun (Netflix’s All Of Us Are Dead) and Kim Hye-yoon (The Girl On A Bulldozer). Ditto is a remake of the popular Korean film of the same name, released in 2000, that starred Yoo Ji-tae. On a night of a total lunar eclipse, a mysterious ham radio connects two college students living 20 years apart and they begin to chat every night, sharing and supporting each other in their love stories. CJ CGV has the film set for release in Korea on November 16.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment

How To Fall In Love With Your Worst Neighbour (working title)

Dir. Lee Woo-chul

From the director of The Hunt, this music romance stars K-pop girl group star Han Seung-yeon (Show Me The Ghost) as a character designer who works at home until her peaceful routine is ruined when an aspiring musician moves into the flat across from her. Lee Ji-hoon (TV’s Sponsor) plays the new neighbour. Now in post-­production, the film is set for local release in Q1 2023.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment

Midnight Sun

Dir. Cho Young-jun

A music and romance feature from the director of The Preparation, this is a Korean remake of the 2006 Japanese film of the same title, which was also remade in the US. K-pop girl group WSG Wannabe member Jung Ji-so (Parasite) and boy group VIXX member Cha Hak-yeon (TV’s Bad And Crazy) star in a story about a girl who cannot be exposed to sunlight due to a medical condition and who finds joy in singing while sequestered at home. When she falls in love with a boy outside her window, he tries to help her pluck up the courage to sing for a bigger audience. Produced by K-Movie Studio, the songs are composed by Lee Chan-hyuk of the K-pop duo AKMU. Midnight Sun, which is in post-production, is set to be distributed in Korea in the first quarter of 2023.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment

New Normal

Dir. Jung Bum-shik

This suspense horror comedy is the work of the writer and director of Epitaph and Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. The film stars Yu-mi (Squid Game), Choi Min-ho (Illang: The Wolf Brigade) aka Minho from K-pop group Shinee, and Choi Ji-woo (The Actresses) in a portmanteau feat­uring serial killers and a series of unexpected twists. Produced by Unpa Studios and Among Films, New Normal closed Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in July and screened at last month’s BFI London Film Festival. It is receiving more post-­production ahead of a commercial release next year.
Contact: Contents Panda

Nocturnal

Dir. Kim Jin-hwang

An action thriller from the director of The Boys Who Cried Wolf, this film stars Ha Jung-woo, whose recent credits include Netflix series Narco-­Saints. Nocturnal also stars Kim Nam-gil (Emergency Declaration) and Yoo Da-in (I Don’t Fire Myself). It follows a former gangster who finds his younger brother dead and sets out to find the prime suspect — his late sibling’s missing wife. His hunt for the truth involves his untrust­worthy former crime syndicate as well as the police, who are in hot pursuit. Sanai Pictures (Hunt, The Spy Gone North) is producing. Nocturnal is in post-­production and set for release in 2023.

Contact Barunson E&A

The Roundup: No Way Out

Dir. Lee Sang-yong

The third film in this crime action franchise starring Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) as “the beast cop” also features Lee Jun-hyuk (Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds) and Aoki Munetaka (Rurouni Kenshin). This time, the beast cop is part of a regional investigation unit going after a new villain, with a Japanese gangster mixed into the proceedings. As with the two other films in this franchise — The Outlaws (2017) and The Roundup (2022) — Big Punch, Hong Film and B.A. Entertainment are producing together. The second film in the franchise — also directed by Lee Sang-yong — is the biggest box-office hit of 2022 in South Korea to date with more than 12.6 million admissions. Production on part three is underway.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment 

Secret: Untold Melody

Dir. Seo You-min

Based on Jay Chou’s hit Taiwanese time-travel romance Secret, director Seo (Recalled) is making a Korean version starring Doh Kyung-soo (Swing Kids), aka D.O. from K-pop group EXO, and Won Jin-a (Net­flix series Hellbound). It centres on a promising young pianist and a mysterious music student who meet each other in an old campus practice room with a hidden secret. Produced by Hive Media Corp (Deliver Us From Evil), the film is in post-producti­on.
Contact: Finecut  

Tastes Of Horror

Dirs. Kim Young-gyun, Ahn Sang-hoon, Lim Dae-woong, Yoon Eun-kyung, Cha Yeo-jun

A horror omnibus based on a web comic combining episodes that suit different people’s horror tastes, this film includes an emotional horror story that occurs when a child abused by their mother meets a ghost; the daily horror that takes place at a gym; and an emergency rescue worker who is trapped in a mysterious space after being injured during a rescue operation. Tastes Of Horror stars Lee Joo-young (Missing Yoon), Jang Gwang (Toxic), Park So-I (Pawn), Yoo Da-in (I Don’t Fire Myself) and Jo Jae-yun (Hansan: Rising Dragon). The film is in post-production and set for release in 2023.
Contact: Contents Panda

Thunderstruck Cop (working title)

Dir. Kim Young-jun

A comedy from the veteran director of Last Present, Shadowless Sword and Bichunmoo, Thunderstruck Cop stars Shin Hyun-joon (Bichunmoo) and Kim Soo-mi (Granny’s Got Talent), the actor and actress who played a famous mother-son duo in the Marry­ing The Mafia comedy franchise. They reunite for this story of a cop who attains superpowers after being struck by lightning. While struggling to connect with his daughter and trying to fight crime, he also discovers there are more people like him. The film is in post-production ahead of a planned 2023 release.
Contact: K-Movie Entertainment

• “We feel bullish about it,” say most UK sellers as they return to Santa Monica for the AFM