Korean sales giant Fine Cut has strengthened its offering in the European film market with two new acquisitions: 3D animated feature “Long Long Night” and author Hong Sang-soo’s latest film “The Day She Returns,” which was selected for the Panorama section at the 76th Berlin Film Festival.
“The Long Long Night” is an adaptation of an award-winning Korean novel that has sold 700,000 copies domestically. This original work won the grand prize at the 2020 Munhak-dong Children’s Literature Award and was included in the 2021 White Ravens List of the International Youth Library in Munich. International versions have been released in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkiye, and a Chinese version will be released soon. This facility has also been adapted into a musical.
This animated feature tells the story of a rhinoceros, the last of its kind, who befriends a penguin who hatches from an abandoned egg and embarks on a journey to the sea with him. This story is inspired by Sudan, the last surviving northern white rhino on the planet. Director Yum Kubok uses Unreal Engine, a real-time 3D creation platform, to achieve realistic, detailed images. The film, currently in production, is produced by Googgoog and Studio Eon and presented by The Content On.
“The Day She Returns” is director Hong Sang-soo’s 34th feature film and his seventh year at the Berlinale, following his latest film “What Does That Nature Say to You” (2025). The film depicts actors giving promotional interviews in support of their comeback films, but the process turns out to be more difficult than expected. This project will reunite director Hong with actress Song Seon-mi, who starred in “In Our Day” (2023), which closed the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Following its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, the film is scheduled for theatrical release in the first half of 2026. Zengensha Eigasha is the producer.
Finecut’s EFM slate also includes genre director Park Hoon-jung’s action noir “Tristes Tropiques,” currently in post-production. The first cut of the film was premiered at the Orbita Competition in Sitges.
Additional titles include Journey There starring Justin H. Min from Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, which won two awards at the Busan International Film Festival. This drama depicts an elderly woman who is forced to make an end-of-life decision, but finds comfort in being with strangers.
Rounding out the lineup are “Wrangler,” a psychological thriller about a dog trainer whose regimented life begins to crumble when he is invited to Vancouver, and “Time of Cinema,” an anthology of works by three Korean directors, Lee Jong-pil, Yoon Ga-eun, and Jang Geun-jae.
