The Korean director Bong Joon Ho will be in Cannes for the opening of the Cannes Film Festival 2021. Boon picked up the Palme d’Or in 2019 with “Parasite”, the first in the history of Korean cinema.
Bong Joon Ho will be one of the guests at the Opening Ceremony on Tuesday, July 6, and will offer the public an exceptional “Rendezvous with…” the following day in the Salle Buñuel at the Palais des Festivals. A major figure in Asian cinema and a great friend of the Cannes Festival, he will talk to the public about his influences, his passion for cinema and his artistic practice.
Among other surprises at the Opening Ceremony, the director of “Memories of Murder” and “Mother” will declare the 74th Cannes Festival open.
Boon Jong Ho and Cannes: love at first sight
“Parasite” was not Boon’s first time at Cannes. “The Host” earned rapturous applause at the 2006 Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. “Mother” premièred at the Certain Regard sidebar in 2009. He was later head of the jury for the Caméra d’Or section of the 2011 Festival. “Okja” premièred at Cannes in 2017.
All this was largely eclipsed by the Palme warded to “Parasite” in 2019. The film then went on to win multiple awards worldwide, including Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay at the Oscars.
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