Hong Sang-soo Film in Surprise Cannes Invite

Korean director Hong Sang-soo's "Keuk Jang Jeon" (Tale of Cinema) has garnered a surprise invitation to the competition of the 58th Cannes International Film Festival. The film appeared on a list of additional entries announced Wednesday, bringing the total to 21.

This is the fourth time Hong has been invited to Cannes. He featured in the Un Certain Regard section for "The Power of Kangwon Province" and "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors", while this year marks the second straight year he has featured in competition following "Woman is the Future of Man" last year.

One person involved with the film said, "We initially thought of submitting it to the Venice Film Festival, but the Cannes Film Festival's artistic director, Thierry Frémaux, saw the prints and requested that the film be submitted, so we changed course toward Cannes". Hong is scheduled to go to France along with stars Kim Sang-kyung and Uhm Ji-won, with the screening due on May 19-20.

Hong's fifth film, "Keuk Jang Jeon" recounts a day in the life of a man who, coming out of a theater after watching a school friend's movie, accidentally bumps into the film's female lead. Besides Kim Sang-kyung and Uhm Ji-won it stars Lee Gi-woo. It debuts in Korea on May 27.

Also invited to this year's Cannes competition section were works of big-name directors like Gus Van Sant's "Last Days", Lars Von Trier's "Manderlay", David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" and Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Best of Our Times". Bosnian director Emir Kusturica and Hong Kong-born director John Woo will participate as jurors.