King and the Clown chosen as Korea's Oscar entry

KOFIC has announced that Lee Joon-ik's King and the Clown will be Korea's submission for the Foreign Language Film category of the 79th Academy Awards.

The film was selected by a KOFIC-appointed committee after considering factors such as the film's overall aesthetic and commercial quality, its potential to be selected for the final five nominations, the director's reputation, the film's overseas potential, etc.

Only two other films were submitted for consideration: Bong Joon-ho's record-breaking film "The Host" and well-known director Kim Ki-duk's thirteenth film "Time".

Directed by Lee Joon-ik and sold internationally by CJ Entertainment, King and the Clown is set in the court of a mad king and centers around a love triangle involving an attractive young jester. The film sold over 12 million tickets in early 2006 and set a new box office record (which was subsequently broken by "The Host"). It will be released directly by CJ Entertainment into the U.S. market in 2007.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences requests that each country submit one film for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category. In early 2007, five final nominations will be chosen by the Academy.

This year's selection committee for Korea consisted of jury chair PARK Ki-yong (film director and director of the Korean Academy of Film Arts), SHIN Chul (producer, Shincine), KIM Young-jin (editor and film critic, Film 2.0), YOO Un-seong (programmer, Jeonju International Film Festival), JOO Jin-sook (professor, Chung-Ang University), KIM Byeong-il (cinematographer), and LEE Dong-jin (reporter, Chosun Ilbo).

Previous submissions by Korea include Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005), Tae Guk Gi (2004), Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring (2003), and Chunhyang (2000). To date, no Korean film has been chosen for the final five nominations.

Darcy Paquet (KOFIC)