Director Park Chan-wook's new film ‘No Way Out’ has been selected as Korea's representative entry for the International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards, which will be held in February next year.
According to the announcement by the Korean Film Council on the 2nd, ‘No Way Out’ has become Korea's representative entry for the International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
In the International Feature Film category of the Academy Awards, only one film selected by the country's film organization can be nominated each year.
Previously, director Bong Joon-ho's ‘Parasite’ was selected as the entry for this category in 2020 and won the honor of receiving an award. Director Park was selected as Korea's representative entry for the 95th Academy Awards with the film ‘Decision to Leave’ (2022), and was included in the shortlist of 15 preliminary candidates, but failed to become a final nominee.
The judging panel stated, “Considering the stable cinematic completeness, the contemporary theme of ‘layoffs’, the excellent performances by good actors, and the capable North American distributor, we deemed it the most competitive among the entries.”
Starring Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, ‘No Way Out’ tells the story of a company employee, Mansoo (played by Lee Byung-hun), who felt that he had achieved everything in life but suddenly gets laid off. To protect his wife and two children, and to keep the home he worked hard to acquire, he prepares for his own war towards re-employment.
This is director Park's 12th feature film, and it has also entered the competition section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, marking a significant achievement for Korean cinema in 13 years.
In particular, after its official screening at the film festival on the 29th of last month, it received overwhelming praise, scoring a perfect 100 points in reviews from 7 media outlets, naturally increasing its chances of winning the festival's top award, the Golden Lion.
It will be released domestically on the 24th.
