Director Hong Sang-soo’s latest film “The Novelist’s Film” has been selected to compete for the Gold and Silver Bears at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival.

This marks the third successive time that one of Hong’s films has been invited to compete at the Berlin festival. His 2020 film “The Woman who Ran” won a Silver Bear for best director, and his 2021 film “Introduction” won another Silver Bear for best screenplay. His other film from last year “In Front of Your Face” competed in the July 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival but did not win any prizes.

“We are happy to have back one of our beloved filmmakers and one of the most coherent narrative storytellers in contemporary cinema,” artistic director Carlo Chatrian said at an online press event for the Berlin festival. “Hong’s new feature, ‘The Novelist’s Film,’ celebrates the beauty of chance encounters and the importance of being truthful.”

“The Novelist’s Film” centers around a female novelist and her encounters when she visits a bookstore run by a younger colleague whom she hasn’t seen for a long time.

The film features actors Lee Hye-young, who took on the lead role in Hong’s “In Front of Your Face,” Hong’s muse Kim Min-hee and Seo Young-hwa.

The Berlin International Film Festival will be held offline after an online edition last year. The festival period has been reduced to seven days from its original 11 days.


BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]