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Sydney Film Festival to Welcome Pair from Korea
CLEAN UP and PARASITE Heading Down Under
Last year’s New Currents victor at the Busan International Film Festival Clean Up (2018) and BONG Joon-ho’s latest film PARASITE, currently screening in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, have been invited to take part in this year’s Sydney Film Festival, which is scheduled to run from June 5 to 16.
The debut film of director KWON Man-ki, Clean Up (2018), a feature project of the Korean Academy of Film Arts, concerns a middle-aged woman who works several jobs following her son’s death and the dissolution of her marriage. At her cleaning job, an ex-convict joins the company and forces her to revisit buried emotions. Following its New Currents Award and KTW Award wins in Busan, KWON’s film also picked up the Best Film prize at the International Film Festival & Awards Macao.
The seventh film from BONG and his first fully Korean language project since 2009’s Mother, PARASITE sees the revered filmmakers return to the competition on the Croisette, following his first selection with his Netflix-backed Okja two years ago. His new film stars SONG Kang-ho as the patriarch of a poor family whose son, played by CHOI Woo-shik, gets a job as an English tutor for a rich family. Before long, the family begins to intertwine in unexpected ways. The film debuts in Korea on May 30 and has already secured distribution in several foreign markets.
