Director's 34th feature premiered at Berlinale in February
Hong Sang-soo's latest film, "The Day She Returns," will open in South Korean theaters on May 6, the director's production company Jeonwonsa Film said Wednesday.
The black-and-white film follows an actor who stepped away from performing for over a decade before picking up a role in an independent film. Over the course of a single day, she sits for several interviews ahead of its release, then joins an acting class where her teacher asks her to reenact those conversations — only to realize she can't remember any of them.
Song Seon-mi plays the lead, with Cho Yun-hee and Park Mi-so rounding out the cast. Hong wrote, directed, shot, edited and composed the music. Actor Kim Min-hee, who gave birth to her first child with Hong last April, served as production manager.
"The Day She Returns" premiered at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival in February in the Panorama section, a noncompetitive sidebar that spotlights contemporary social themes and new directions in filmmaking. The selection marked Hong's seventh straight year at the Berlinale.
His previous film, "What Does That Nature Say to You," competed for the Golden Bear at last year's festival.
Despite widespread international recognition, Hong's films tend to get limited theatrical runs in South Korea. His releases open on 50 to 60 screens across the country at most and stay in theaters for around two weeks, shorter than the usual four- to eight-week runs of commercial films here.
The screenings also lean toward smaller independent venues: During the run of "What Does That Nature Say to You" last May, about 43 percent of screens and nearly 60 percent of total showings were at arthouse theaters rather than multiplex chains, according to data from the Korean Film Council's box office tracker.
Hong has released all of his films since 2014 through Jeonwonsa, his Seoul-based production company. "The Day She Returns" is his 34th feature.
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
