Park Chan Wook – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

CANNES 2026 Film Festival Jury – Diane Carson reports

May 27, 2026June 1, 2026 Diane Carson 2026 Cannes International Film Festival Jury, Cannes 2026, chloe zhao, demi moore, Didier Allouch, Diego Céspedes, Isaach de Bankolé, Laura Wandel, Park Chan Wook, PAUL LAVERTY, Ruth Negga, Stellan Skarsgård

Asked by moderator Didier Allouch their reactions upon receiving the call inviting them to serve on this year’s jury, to a person each of the jurors expressed their delight at the honor. U.K. writer Paul Laverty said he immediately wondered if it was a hoax, his three sons “up to some mischief.” Director/writer Chloé Zhao described the upcoming days as a master class with those whose work she admired. Ethiopian/Irish actress Ruth Negga said, “My heart skipped a beat. This feels like poetry . . . the honor and privilege of a lifetime with such extraordinary artists.” American actress Demi Moore reiterated feeling “tremendously honored.” With amusement, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård’s commented, “Finally. I’m so relieved I didn’t die first.” Concluding this round, Park Chan-wook humbly wondered if he was up to the task.

Festivals

Women @ Cannes FF 2026 – Christina Jeurling-Birro reports

April 22, 2026April 26, 2026 Christina Jeurling Birro Cannes Film Festival 2026, Marie Kreutzer, palme d'or, Park Chan Wook, Thierry Frémaux, Valeska Grisebach

There’s always a sense of Christmas morning excitement when Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux unveils the festival’s lineup. The 79th edition of the festival feels especially electric, blending new discoveries with an auteur-driven selection. This year’s lineup includes works by Pedro Almodóvar, Pawel Pawlikowski, Ira Sachs, Asghar Farhadi, and new films from previous Palme d’Or winners Cristian Mungiu and Hirokazu Kore-eda. The 2026 festival leans heavily on international cinema. There are no blockbusters on the slate but the program showcases a fascinating mix of genres, including musicals, sci-fi, and horror. Out of the 22 films announced so far in competition, five are directed by women. 24% of the lineup, a slight dip from last year. However, in the Un Certain Regard section, more than half (8 out of 11 films) are directed by women.

Reviews

NO OTHER CHOICE – Review by Sarah Ward

January 13, 2026January 18, 2026 Sarah Ward Choi So Yul, Jahye Lee, Kim Woo Seung, Kim Woo-hyung, Korean films, Lee Byung-hun, Lee Kyoung-mi, No Other Choice, Park Chan Wook, Son Ye-jin

No Other Choice is currently pop culture’s top-ranking candidate in espousing the importance of work-life balance, defining your identity by something other than your profession and never forgetting that capitalism cares less than zero for everyday employees. Life in general should’ve already stressed these points, whether or not you’ve unexpectedly been made redundant from a longstanding job that you always went above and beyond for and, thanks to the quality of your work and that dedication, were praised as a model member as staff at including outside of the company, as Lee Byung-hun’s Man-su has. Reflecting reality with sparkling clarity doesn’t make Park Chan-wook’s black comedy any less sharp or savage, the latter in a so-truthful-it-cuts-to-the-bone fashion.

Reviews

DECISION TO LEAVE – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

December 19, 2022December 19, 2022 Valerie Kalfrin Decision to Leave, Korean films, Park Chan Wook, Park Hae-il, Tang Wei

Korean director Park Chan-wook, who earned a best director award for this film at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, packs several twists and engrossing camera work into this murder mystery, but also an elegiac romance. Think of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and how the femme fatale eventually became obsessed with the detective obsessed with her.

Reviews

DECISION TO LEAVE – Review by Diane Carson

October 31, 2022November 7, 2022 Diane Carson Decision to Leave, Kim Ji-yong, Korean films, Park Chan Wook

Decision to Leave profiles a South Korean detective’s obsession. What subjective filters cloud any attempt to discern the truth of events, much less throughout an investigation by an experienced, self-aware South Korean homicide detective Jang Hae-joon? That’s the intriguing question director Park Chan-wook answers in exquisitely complex fashion in Decision to Leave. The catalyst for Hae-joon’s immediate crisis is a dead businessman discovered at the foot of a mountain.

Festivals Reviews

DECISION TO LEAVE (MIFF 2022) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

August 16, 2022 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Decision to Leave, melbourne international film festival, MIFF 2022, Park Chan Wook

It’s been six years since Park Chan-wook swept audiences away with his lush, seductive The Handmaiden, but his recent Cannes Best Director award for his latest film Decision to Leave shows it was well worth the wait. A Hitchcockian crime thriller/romance right down to its core, all the signature traits that have wooed audiences around the world to the master Korean filmmakers work and garnered him the reputation as one of the best directors working in cinema today here abound. Elegant cinematography, complex characters and a curious tonal tug-of-war between a range of different emotions are again at the helm here in this tale of a homicide investigator who falls in love with a murder suspect.

Interviews

Park Chan Wook Discusses Genre Twists in THIRST – Jennifer Merin interviews

July 20, 2014June 8, 2020 Jennifer Merin 0 Comments Cinema Citizen, horror films, jerusalem film festival, Korean films, Park Chan Wook, Thirst, vampire movies

At his Jerusalem Film Festival Masterclass, Korean filmmaker Park Chan Wook focuses on his genre bending storytelling and cinematic trickery in Thirst, which is, he says, his personal favorite of all the films he’s made to date. He comments that he identifies with the film’s central character, a priest-turned-vampire, because he’s always trying to justify his actions. He revelations about audience manipulation through sound design are particularly fascinating. Read more>>