JEDDAH: South Korean film fans recently flocked to the Red Sea International Film Festival at the Ritz-Carlton in Jeddah to watch the latest releases of South Korean movies, among which was “Next Sohee.”
Directed by July Jung and starring Kim Si-eun, the movie is based on the true story of a South Korean high school girl who committed suicide after working at a call center. The movie’s first screening was held in the Kingdom on Wednesday.
Speaking to Arab News, Jung said she decided to direct the movie after reading the story of the real Sohee, which left her infuriated and motivated to tell the truth about her death to the world.
“It is true that the movie is based on a real story, and when I heard about it, I couldn’t get it at all at first, like why a thing like that happened to such a young person and led to her death. So, I wanted to know everything and wrote the story then turned it into a movie,” said the director.
The South Korean film industry enjoys wide popularity in the Kingdom, especially with streaming platforms like Netflix, Shahid, and STARZPLAY allowing people increased access to Korean works.
HIGHLIGHT
The South Korean film industry enjoys wide popularity in the Kingdom, especially with streaming platforms like Netflix, Shahid, and STARZPLAY allowing people increased access to Korean works. The year 2021 marked the first screening of a Korean film in Saudi theaters with ‘The Box,’ and in 2022, ‘The Killer,’ ‘Special Delivery,’ and ‘The Roundup’ premiered in the Kingdom’s cinemas.
The year 2021 marked the first screening of a Korean film in Saudi theaters with “The Box,” and in 2022, “The Killer,” “Special Delivery,” and “The Roundup” premiered in the Kingdom’s cinemas.
Ever since, Korean films have regularly sold out tickets to their premieres, and this was also the case with the first screening of “Next Sohee.” The film’s tickets sold out hours before the screening, which left both director Jung and actress Kim pleasantly speechless.
“This is unbelievable! I didn’t expect that at all!” said the director. “I thought only 10 people would show up to watch the movie!”
Kim said: “I’m really thankful for that! Honestly, I thought that meeting the Saudi audience would be the (best) thing I would experience here, but hearing that the tickets are sold out…is a new experience for me.”
The South Korean Consul General and his wife also attended the movie premiere. (AN photos by Huda Bashatah)
Many moviegoers and fans of South Korean culture attended the film premiere.
Fadwa Sabri, 22, said that she attended the festival last year and wanted to experience it again.
Another young woman, Rawan, 20, said: “I love Korean films and movies in general and I wanted to see what the festival (had in store) for us. I found ‘Next Sohee’ and decided to watch it.
“The movie is really great and the…acting is perfect,” she added.
Rawad Al-Sayigh, 19, said: “I’m very passionate about cinema and movies, especially Asian movies because I like their acting.”
On “Next Sohee,” he said: “The movie is really beautiful, and the (performance) of the actress who plays the detective is really amazing. I would review it 9/10.”
Al-Anood Daghestani, 19, said that her interest in Korean cinematography made it easy for her to choose to watch “Next Sohee” among the other movies that premiered that day.
“The movie was very (minimalist),” she said. “The scenes progressed in a different way than normal movies would, and I like that about the movie.”
The festival also screened other Korean titles, including “The Broker,” Canadian Korean film “Riceboy Sleeps,” and Singaporean Korean film “Ajoomma.”
