Korean Sellers Present Packed Lineups at Hong Kong International Film and TV Market

The Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (Filmart) took place from March 14-17 with a large contingent of Korean sales agents presenting their enticing slates of new films. Several brand new projects were launched at the event, beefing up lineups that were already bursting with titles as a number of completed projects have been waiting out the pandemic.

While Asia’s largest screen contents market was forced to take place online for the third time in a row, Filmart was able to attract 8,000 participants from 81 countries. Close to 750 exhibitors, an uptick from last year’s 677, showcased over 2,400 film or series titles during the market.

Among the Korean projects launched at Filmart this year was M-Line Distribution’s upcoming action-thriller Drive, the debut of director Park Donghee, who previously wrote the script for this year’s action title Special Delivery with Park Sodam. Starring Park Juhyun, Kim Yeojin, Kim Doyoon and Jung Woongin, the film is about a kidnapped internet celebrity who livestreams his ordeal from the inside of a car trunk.

The Killer (2022), My Lovely Angel (2021) 

Other titles in M-Line’s slate included The Killer, the story of a retired hitman who has to return to his violent ways when a girl he has promised to look after is kidnapped. Jang Hyuk stars in the project, which reunites him with The Swordsman (2020) director Choi Jaehun. The film has already been presold to 23 countries.

Another project introduced at the market was the comedy-drama 19 39 from director Park Jaeho. Though the project has yet to begin production, it is already being lined up for a summer release. Similar to the 2010 hit Sunny, the film will follow five 39-year-old women who are transported back to the halcyon days of their senior high school year. Already fully cast with ten actresses on board to play the characters as adults and teenagers, the film has a KRW 4 billion (USD 3.3 million) budget and is anticipating an additional KRW 1 billion (USD 824,000) spend for domestic marketing. Sales agent More In Group previously used Filmart as a launching platform last year for their heartwarming drama My Lovely Angel with Jin Goo.

Smuggle (2022), Hot Blooded (2022) 

Filmart hosted a number of other major Korean sales agents shopping their titles, including Contents Panda, Finecut, Showbox and many others.

Leading Contents Panda’s slate was Gentlem​an, Kim Kyoungwon’s crime film with Ju Jihoon that will be presented as an original on the streaming service wavve in Korea. They also had the highly anticipated SF-action sequel The Witch: Part 2. The Other One, which reunites director Park Hoonjung and star Kim Dami, as well as Ryoo Seungwan’s latest film Smuggle, the 70s set smuggling thriller headlined by Kim Hyesoo, Yum Jungah, Zo Insung and Park Jeongmin., arriving quickly on the heels on Ryoo’s commercial and critical hit Escape from Mogadishu (2021).

As usual, boutique sales agent Finecut put forward a broad lineup comprising both commercial titles and award-winning festival films. Among their hot items were the gangster drama Hot Blooded with Jung Woo, which opens this coming week in theaters in Korea, and the broadcast news-themed mystery-thriller The Anchor with Chun Woohee and fantasy-comedy Stellar: A Magical Ride with Squid Game’s Heo Sungtae, both slated for April releases. New in their lineup was When Spring Comes (working title) with Son Hyeonju, the latest film from Fanfare (2020) director Lee Donku, and the thriller A Christmas Carol (working title) from Running Wild (2006) director Kim Sungsoo.

Emergency Declaration (2022), In Our Prime (2022) 

Included in Showbox’s lineup was the big-budget disaster drama Emergency Declaration. From director Han Jaerim and featuring an all-star cast comprising Song Kangho, Lee Byunghun, Jeon Doyeon, Kim Namgil, Yim Siwan and many more, the film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival last summer and has yet to go on commercial release. Showbox also presented the maths prodigy drama In Our Prime with Choi Minshik, which just opened at number one at the local box office, and the upcoming action-comedy Citizen of a Kind, the latest vehicle for Honest Candidate (2020) star Ra Miran.

Other major titles included Hansan: Emergence of Dragon from Lotte Entertainment, the second film in Kim Hanmin’s planned trilogy focusing on the legendary admiral Yi Sunshin which began with Roaring Currents (2014), the most successful film of all time at the Korean box office. Leading K-Movie Entertainment’s slate was Shin Yeonshick’s volleyball comedy-drama One Win with Song Kangho, and the noir drama Portrait of a Family with Ryu Seungryong, from Miss Baek (2018) director Lee Jiwon. Lee Byunghun and Yoo Ahin will go face to face in the competitive go drama The Match from Acemaker Movieworks, which also has the revenge drama Remember with Lee Sungmin and Nam Joohyuk.

Missing Yoon (2022), Unframed (2021) 

Mirovision · Studio Bonanza brought the comedy-drama Missing Yoon with Lee Jooyoung, a feature project from the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), the thriller Drown and the drama Route 1 to Filmart. kt alpha presented the action-thriller The Goblin, the omnibus Unframed, featuring the directorial debut of actors Lee Jehoon, Park Jeongmin, Choi Moon and Son Sukku, and the romance Someone You Loved (working title) with Lee Donghwi and Jung Eunchae.

Indie sales agents were also out in force at Filmart. Indiestory’s lineup included the baseball documentary 1984, Choi Dongwon and the Busan Film Festival-invited comedy-drama Usu (2021) with Yoon Jemoon and Kim Taehoon. Animation specialist KIAFA AniSEED brought animated shorts such as Battery Daddy. IDES DISTRIBUTION took part with the aspiring screenwriter drama Exist Within, while CMNIX showcased a number of titles, including the BIFF-invited The Uncle (2020).

Underscoring the importance of Korean content in the global market, Jessica Kam-Engle, the APAC head of content and development for Disney, outlined Disney+’s heavy reliance on content from South Korea during her keynote address during Filmart. Kam-Engle explained “From our extensive research, consumers across most Asian markets have a strong preference for local language entertainment content. In recent years, demand for Korean content, in particular, has experienced phenomenal growth across the region.” Disney+ is aiming to release 12 Korean originals and 20 Korean titles (including licensed programming) in total in 2021 alone.

Though the pandemic continues to throw up obstacles for theatrical release around the world, this year’s Filmart demonstrated the impressive pipeline of Korean content, with agents representing a stockpile of releases awaiting the right moment to launch, along with a steady stream of new projects across a spectrum of budgets and genres.

Some of those projects will likely find themselves in the lineup of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, which was initially scheduled to begin on March 31. Though it was delayed owing to the local Omicron wave, Monday’s announcement of eased social restrictions on the horizon in Hong Kong may lead to a new schedule for HKIFF before long.