Everyone Wants to Be Korean, as the K-wave Sucks in International Talent

variety.com:

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSurprising as it may sound, the Korean film industry has had a rough time over the past couple of years.

Get ready for a comeback.Just at a moment when Korean film producers might have expected to capitalize on the unprecedented multi-Oscar success of “Parasite” (and the previous year’s Korean-language “Minari,” COVID closed down Korean cinemas , stifled production and extinguished Korean audiences’ willingness to venture into cinemas.

Pre-COVID, South Korea had been the world’s fourth-largest theatrical market, but for two years has been in an abyss.That the Korean film industry has an undiminished capacity for delivering high-quality pictures is amply on display in Cannes, where the country has four starkly different titles: “Decision to Leave,” a meticulous detective mystery from maestro Park Chan-wook; “Broker,” an issues-driven drama made in Korea by Japan’s former Palme d’Or winner Kore-eda Hirokazu; a convoluted 1980s-set spy actioner from “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, making his feature directing debut; and an understated and introspective drama, “Next Sohee,” from Cannes returnee Jung July.

But back home, cinema chains have lost vast sums of money over the past two years and  distributors reacted to the new conditions by halting local releases.