Yoon Daewon Film Invited to Cannes

Cicada (2021)

The Korean short film Cicada, from student filmmaker Yoon Daewon, has been invited to the Cinéfondation section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The short joins two other Korean features already invited to the prestigious film event, Hong Sangsoo’s In Front of Your Face and Han Jaerim’s Emergency Declaration.

The 17-minute short film, which was selected from among 1,835 entries and is one of 17 selections in the Cinéfondation lineup, follows a reunion between a transgender woman and her old friend and focuses on issues of gender identity. The film was made by Yoon as a graduation project at the Korea National University of Arts (K’Arts).

Yoon is also responsible for the short films Spring Night (2019) and Bird Cage (2020), the latter of which was based on a webtoon. He has also helmed music videos for musicians such as BTOB and Jo Kwon.

The Cinéfondation competition focuses on short films produced by students at film schools. The most recent Korean entrants include The Line (2013), 1 KILOGRAM (2016), and last year’s Twenty. Prior to those, during a five-year starting in 2007, four Korean works scored the third-place prize in the competition: Hong Sunghoon’s A Reunion (2007), Park Jaeok’s Stop (2008), Jo Sunghee’s Don’t Step Out of the House (2009) and Son Taegyum’s Fly by Night (2011).

This year’s 74th Cannes Film Festival will take place from July 6 to 17.