The 78th Cannes Film Festival opened on Tuesday without a single Korean feature film in its official selection for the first time in 12 years, but Korean filmmakers and distributors are still hoping to make their presence felt in the Cannes Film Market, a marketplace for films held alongside the festival, presenting a diverse slate of high-profile projects to woo global buyers.

The Cannes Film Market is the world’s largest marketplace for film rights. Each year, it brings together film industry officials from all over the world. Throughout the festival, participants actively engage in buying and selling film rights, co-productions, remakes and a wide range of business deals, making it a central hub for global film industry transactions and collaborations.

On its Tuesday edition, Screen Daily, a British news outlet covering the Cannes Film Festival, introduced a wide range of upcoming Korean films. In its Buzz Titles South Korea section, the newspaper said, “South Korean sellers arrive in Cannes with an electric selection of titles, including the latest from 'Train to Busan's' Yeon Sang-ho and 'The Roundup's' Lee Sang-yong.”

Screen Daily suggested that director Yeon’s latest zombie thriller “Colony” is expected to gain attention from officials at the marketplace. Starring one of the nation’s top actors, Jun Ji-hyun, the film centers on a group of people trapped in a building after a genetically mutating virus is unleashed. The film is scheduled to be released in 2026.

Another Korean project expected to make waves at the market is “Pig Village,” an English-language action film starring Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee, an action star best known for the hit series, “The Roundup.” The film, set on the U.S.-Mexico border, features a star-studded international cast and is being touted as one of the largest English-language productions to come out of the Korean studio system.

Director Kim Tae-yong’s new film “Number One” is also being introduced at the Film Market. The fantasy drama reunites “Parasite” stars Choi Woo-shik and Jang Hye-jin. Director Lee Hwan’s “Project Y,” starring actors Han So-hee and Jeon Jong-seo, is also mentioned as likely to gain attention from global buyers.

In addition to introducing new projects, the newspaper also highlighted broader changes taking place in the Korean film industry of interest to global buyers at Cannes. The article noted that the Korean film industry is currently experiencing a severe downturn, and in response, local studios are pursuing a range of global collaborative projects across diverse genres.

By Baek Byung-yeul

The Korea Times (click)