02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Why are Korean films absent from the Cannes Film Festival? A brain drain, Netflix and more
South Korean films are absent from this year's Cannes Film Festival for the first time in more than a decade, and observers say it highlights a brain drain plaguing the industry.
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According to the line-up released by the Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 13 to 24, no Korean films will be screened in its official selection.
A short South Korean animated film, Glasses, directed by Jung Yoo-mi, will be screened as part of Critics Week, an event organised by the French Union of Film Critics that runs in parallel with the festival.
It is first time since 2013 that no Korean movies have been included in the official selection. It is also the third year in a row that no Korean films will be screened in competition in Cannes.
Director Park Chan-wook accepts the award for best director for Decision to Leave at the 2022 Cannes festival. Photo: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP
Korean films have been screened regularly at Cannes since 1984, when Lee Doo-yong's Mulleya Mulleya became the first Korean production to be selected for the festival, and they and their directors have earned strong recognition on the French Riviera.
