South Korea’s Finecut has closed key distribution deals across Europe and Asia for Hong Sangsoo’s The Day She Returns.
The drama, which premiered at the Berlinale in February, has been acquired for France (Carlotta Films), the UK (Institute of Contemporary Arts), Spain (Atalante), Finland (BKS Cinema), mainland China (Hugoeast) and Taiwan (Cola Films). North American distribution rights were previously secured by Cinema Guild.
The Day She Returns is the 34th feature of prolific South Korean auteur, whose films have played at the past seven editions of the Berlinale.
It stars Song Sunmi as a woman who has shot an indie film and gives three interviews about the project. Later, in her acting class, she is asked to re-enact the conversations but is unable to recall them. Further cast includes Cho Yunhee and Park Miso. All three actresses have appeared in several of Hong’s films. It is produced by Hong’s own banner, Jeonwonsa Film.
As previously reported, Finecut has international sales rights to July Jung’s Dora, which is set to world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. The film is a South Korea-France-Luxembourg co-production and Finecut handles sales outside of French-speaking Europe, Africa, Luxembourg and South Korea.
The drama stars actress and former K-pop idol Kim Do-yeon as Dora alongside Japan’s Sakura Ando in her debut Korean film. Ando has previously attended Cannes with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster in 2023 and Palme d’Or-winner Shoplifters in 2018. She has won five Japanese Academy awards for 100 Yen Love, Shoplifters, A Man, Godzilla Minus One and Monster.
It marks the third feature by Jung after A Girl At My Door, which played in Un Certain Regard in 2014, and Next Sohee, which won several international festival awards after premiering in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2022. Finecut also represented Next Sohee.
Dora is produced by France’s The French Connection, South Korea’s RedPeter Films and Luxembourg’s Les Films Fauves. RedPeter Films is known as the producer of Yeon Sang-ho’s Train To Busan and Peninsula, both of which were selected for Cannes in 2016 and 2020 respectively.
Also on Finecut’s Cannes slate is Park Hoon-jung’s action-noir Tristes Tropiques, of which it will premiere the latest version of the film after winning the Silver Raven Award at Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival last month.
The Seoul-based sales agent also has Long Long Night, an upcoming 3D animated feature based on an award-winning Korean novel; and upcoming Japanese horror-thriller Wash Away, based around the belief that water from a lakeside can purify human souls.
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