At the close of this year's Cannes Film Festival, Saturday, (local time), South Korean movies had collected two titles ― Best Director for Park Chan-wook for "Decision to Leave" and Best Actor for Song Kang-ho in "Broker."
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| Song Kang-ho poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Broker' at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in southern France, May 27. AP-Yonhap |
This is Park's third prize at Cannes out of his four competition entries, while Song received his first Cannes' honor after visiting the festival seven times.
The two simultaneous prizes at Cannes this year gave Korean cinema a strong presence on the global film scene again following Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" awarded the highest Palme d'Or honor in 2019.
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| From left, Chinese actress Tang Wei, Korean director Park Chan-Wook and Korean actor Park Hae-Il attend a press conference for the film "Decision to Leave" ("Heojil Kyolshim" in Korean) during the 75th Cannes Film Festival in southern France, May 24. AFP-Yonhap |
The country's filmmakers started to knock on the door of the French film festival in 1984, when Lee Doo-yong's historical drama "Spinning Wheel" was played in the Un Certain Regard side event.
In 2002, renowned director Im Kwon-taek took the best director award with "Chihwaseon," a film about a 19th-century Korean painter who changed the direction of Korean art, bringing home the nation's first Cannes' official trophy.
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| Song Kang-ho accepts the award for best actor for 'Broker' during the awards ceremony at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in southern France, May 28. AP-Yonhap |
Two years later, Cannes' second-highest honor ― the Grand Prix ― went to Park's "Oldboy," helping the director rise to worldwide stardom. He also collected the Jury Prize, the third-highest honor at the French festival, for his 2009 horror movie "Thirst," becoming one of the most beloved directors at Cannes.
In 2007, Cannes granted Jeon Do-yeon the best actress award for her performance in "Secret Sunshine," while director Lee Chang-dong took home the best screenplay award in 2010 for his drama "Poetry."
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| Director Park Chan-Wook, left, and actor Park Hae-Il arrive for the closing ceremony of the 75th Cannes Film Festival in southern France, May 28. AFP-Yonhap |
Apart from their success in Cannes, meanwhile, South Korean films have fared even better at the Venice International Film Festival.
Back in 1987, the best actress award was given to Kang Soo-youn for her leading role in "The Surrogate Woman," directed by Im Kwon-taek.
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| From left, director Hirokazu Kore-eda, Song Kang-ho, and Lee Ji-eun pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Broker at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in southern France, May 26. AP-Yonhap |
Lee Chang-dong's "Oasis" and Kim Ki-duk's "3-Iron" won the Silver Lion for best direction in 2002 and 2004, respectively.
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| From left, Tang Wei, director Park Chan-wook and Park Hae-il attend the photocall for 'Decision To Leave (Heojil Kyolshim)' during the 75th Cannes Film Festival in southern France, May 24. EPA-Yonhap |
Finally, Kim made history when his drama "Pieta" won the Golden Lion for best movie at the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012, becoming the first Korean film to attain a top prize from any of the world's three largest film festivals.
Korean flicks have also made their presence felt at the Berlin International Film Festival.
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| From left, Actor Park Hae-Il, director Park Chan-Wook and Chinese actress Tang Wei attend a photocall for the film "Decision to Leave" ("Heojil Kyolshim" in Korean) during the 75th Cannes Film Festival in southern France, May 24. AFP-Yonhap |
Kim Ki-duk's "Samaritan Girl" earned the Silver Bear prize for best director at the 2004 festival, while Park Chan-wook won the Alfred Bauer Prize for his 2007 romantic comedy "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK."
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