This year, there are no Korean works invited to the Cannes Film Festival, but director Jung Yu-mi's animation has been invited to the short competition section of the Critics' Week.
On the 17th (local time), the French Critics Association announced on its official website that director Jung's 'Glasses' will be screened in the short competition section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week.
Critics' Week is an unofficial section operated by the Cannes Film Festival that showcases feature and short films with fresh artistic qualities.
This is the first time that a Korean animation has been selected as a short competition entry in this section. The work tells a coming-of-age story about a woman who visits an optician and confronts her inner shadows, ultimately learning to accept herself.
Director Jung previously majored in animation directing at the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) and is already recognized as one of the notable animation directors at international film festivals.
In 2009, she was invited to the Cannes Directors' Fortnight with 'Dust Eye', and her works 'Math Test' (2010), 'Love Play' (2013), 'House of Existence' (2022), and 'Circle' (2024) have competed in the short competition section of the Berlin Film Festival. 'Love Play' was the first Korean animation to win the Grand Prix (Best Film) at the Zagreb International Animation Festival.
Fortunately, with 'Glasses' receiving an invitation to Critics' Week, Korean cinema has avoided the situation of having '0 films invited' at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Previously announced official competition sections and unofficial sections such as Directors' and Critics' Week did not include any Korean feature films.
