Berlin:
Kim Ki-duk, Hong Sang-soo Films Secure Early Sales
Sales banner Finecut has sold the South Korean festival and market titles 'Human, Space, Time and Human,' 'Grass' and 'Last Child.'
Seoul-based sales banner Finecut has gotten a head start at Berlin's European Film Market (EFM), unveiling deals for Berlinale titles by South Korean auteurs Kim Ki-duk and Hong Sang-soo.
It has sold Kim's Human, Space, Time and Human, which screens in the festival's Panorama Special section, as well as Hong's Grass, which is part of the Forum section.
Human, Space, Time and Human, the latest feature by the Venice Lion-winning maverick filmmaker, has sold to Norway (AS Fidalgo Film Distribution), Japan (King Records) and Greece & Cyprus (Danaos Films). Described as "a meditation on the human condition" by Finecut, the film revolves around a small group of people from all walks of life who embark on a journey to the sea. After spending days indulging in alcohol and lust, the voyagers find their lives at risk.
Grass, by Hong, who most recently presented two films at the Cannes Film Festival last year, was also sold to France (Les Acacias). In the pic, last year's Silver Bear-winning actress Kim Minhee stars as a woman who observes a quaint coffeehouse from across a small garden, noting the various interactions that take place there. Grass will mark Hong's return to the Forum section some 21 years after his debut feature, The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well.
Another Berlinale title by Finecut, Last Child, sealed a deal with Encore Inflight for worldwide in-flight rights excluding Taiwan. The movie, also showing as part of the Forum lineup, is the feature debut by emerging filmmaker Shin Dong-seok, who won the FIPRESCI Award at last year's Busan International Film Festival and best picture honors at the Seoul Independent Film Festival with the title. Last Child follows the story of mourning parents who, having lost their son in a drowning accident, develop a special bond with a boy whom their son died while saving — but soon learn a shocking truth behind the death.
Meanwhile, Finecut has also sealed deals for other titles from its EFM slate. Encore purchased worldwide in-flight rights to True Fiction (directed by Kim Jin Mook) and Home (directed by Kim Jong-woo), while Creative Century Entertainment picked up rights to Home for Taiwan.
Among upcoming titles introduced by Finecut at EFM are Burning, a new film from acclaimed Cannes-winning director Lee Chang-dong and starring Walking Dead star Steven Yeun and Yoo Ah-in, as well as the period creature action film Monstrum. The promotional clip for Red Shoes & the 7 Dwarfs (working title), a 3D animated feature that puts a modern spin on the classic fairy tales and stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Snow White and Sam Claflin as Merlin, one of the seven dwarfs, will also get a market screening at EFM.
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