Park Chan-wook will serve as president of the jury at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
The prominent South Korean director, screenwriter and producer will replace French actor Juliette Binoche, whose jury awarded the Palme d’Or to Jafar Panahi’s Iranian drama “It Was Just an Accident.”
Park, known for his baroque and subversive works, has a long history with Cannes. He released his feature debut, Old Boy, at the 2004 festival, where it won the grand prize and later became a cult film. Since then, he has returned to competition with most of his films, including 2009’s Jury Prize winner Thirst, 2016’s The Handmaiden, and 2022’s Best Director winner The Decision.
“Park Chan-wook’s ingenuity, cinematic dexterity, and talent for capturing the multiple impulses of men and women with strange fates have given contemporary cinema some truly memorable moments,” festival president Iris Knobloch and director Thierry Frémaux said in a joint statement. “We are delighted to be able to celebrate his immense talent, and more broadly, this country’s cinema, which is deeply relevant to the issues of our time.”
Park will be the first Korean to serve as president of the Cannes Film Festival in its 79-year history. Wong Kar-wai was the only Asian director to serve as president of the jury 20 years ago.
Director Park, whose latest film “No Other Choice” was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, said, “The reason theaters are dark is so that we can see the light of the movie.We are trapped inside the theater so that our souls can be liberated through the window of the movie.”
“This double voluntary confinement of being locked in a theater to watch a movie and then locked up again to discuss it with a jury is something I’m looking forward to with great anticipation,” he continued.
Alluding to ongoing wars and political tensions, he said, “In this time of mutual hatred and division, I believe that the simple act of gathering together in a movie theater to watch a movie together, breathing and beating in unison, is itself a moving and universal expression of solidarity.”
Cannes has long championed Korean films. Back in 2002, the festival awarded Im Kwon-taek the Best Director award for “Strokes of Fire.” Director Bong Joon-ho became the first Korean director to win the Palme d’Or in 2019 for “Parasite,” and later made history by winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film at the Oscars.
Over the years, Cannes has also spotlighted a new generation of Korean directors who have entered the competition. In particular, Hong Sang-soo for “Movie Story” in 2005, Kim Ki-duk for “Breathing” in 2007, and Lee Chang-dong for “Poem,” which won the Best Screenplay Award in 2010. Others include Kim Ji-eun in 2005’s “Bittersweet Life,” Yeon Sang-ho and Byun Sung-hyun in 2016’s “Train to Busan.” In 2017, he appeared in “The Merciless” and in 2019, he appeared in “The Gang, The Cop, The Devil” starring Lee Won-tae.
