Stream K-Dramas at OnDemandKorea

Korean Gangster Flick Invited to Venice Film Festival

A Korean gangster drama has been invited to this year's Venice International Film Festival.

Advertisement

Festival organizers on Tuesday announced the lineup, and "Night in Paradise" directed by Park Hoon-jung was included in the out-of-competition list.

The festival, which is marking its 77th edition, will be held with a reduced lineup on Lido Island in Venice from Sept. 2 to 12.

It will be the first major film festival to take place since the coronavirus epidemic broke out. Other major international film festivals have been canceled or held online.

"Night in Paradise" is the only Korean film to be included in the official lineup this year, and the first Korean feature film to be invited to the festival since Kim Jee-woon's "The Age of Shadows" in 2016.

Venice festival director Alberto Barbera said through an interpreter that "Night in Paradise" is "one of the best gangster movies we have received from [Korea] in recent years and the director... is an author who deserves great attention" for creating unconventional and complicated characters and for his impressive directing ability.

"We will hear a lot about him in the future", he added.

___________

"Night in Paradise" is directed by Park Hoon-jung, and features Um Tae-goo, Jeon Yeo-been, Cha Seung-won, Lee Ki-young, Park Ho-san, Cho Dong-in. Release date in Korea: 2020.

❎ Try Ad-free