#Cannes: Hong Sangsoo Films ‘In Our Day,’ ‘In Water’ Sell Across Europe

Seoul-based sales outfit Finecut has inked a batch of deals for the most recent films from South Korea’s most prolific auteur, Hong Sangsoo. Hong’s latest, In Our Day, which will premiere as the closing title of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section on May 25, has sold to France (Capricci), Spain (L’Atalante Cinema) and Greece (Ama Films). The film follows a woman in her 40s, temporarily living at the home of a friend, and a man in his 70s living alone, who both have visitors with serious questions to ask. 

Hong’s second most recent feature, In Water, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, also has done brisk business at Cannes’ Marche du Film. The movie has sold to France (Arizona Films Distribution), Spain (L’Atalante Cinema) and Taiwan (COLA FILMS), following its earlier sale to The Cinema Guild for North America. 

Finecut has also closed deals on three titles from young female Korean directors – July Jung’s Next Sohee (which premiered in Cannes Critics Week in 2022), Lee Sol-hui’s Greenhouse and Lee Ji-eun’s The Hill of Secrets. 

Next Sohee has gone to Australia (SBS), China (BlueMedia Times) and Spain (La Aventura Cine), following prior deals with France (Arizona), India (Pictureworks), Japan (Rights Cube), Taiwan (Sky Films) and Switzerland (Trigon Film). Released on April 5 in France, the film has garnered more than 90,000 admissions. 

Greenhouse, which won multiple awards at last year’s Busan Film Festival, has sold to France (Art House Films), Japan (Mimosa Films) and Taiwan (AV-Jet). And Plaion Pictures took German-speaking rights to The Hill Of Secrets, which premiered in Berlin and was previously sold to Hong Kong’s Edko Films and Taiwan’s AV-Jet.