Edinburgh Film Festival to focus on Korea and Sweden

The Edinburgh International Film Festival will feature two national focusses this year, offering festival audiences the chance to see UK premieres of “the best recent work” from South Korea and Sweden, the festival organisers announced from Cannes today.

The Focus on Korea line-up boasts films “from the commercial mainstream to independent cinema”, including Ryoo Seung Wan’s espionage thriller The Berline File, O Muel’s debút feature Jiseul, Chung Ji-young’s National Security, Shin Su-won’s Pluto, and Virgin Forest, which will be shown alongside two new shorts: Homo Coreanicus, an allegorical story about Korean society; and Day Trip, a collaboration between Stoker’s Park Chan-wook and his brother, Park Chan-kyong.

The Focus on Sweden has a similarly diverse line-up, including Mia Engberg’s Belleville Baby, Mikael Marcimain’s Call Girl, Måns Månsson’s debút flick Roland Hassel, emerging Swedish director Karzan Kader’s Up & Away, and Fredrik Edfeldt’s Sanctuary. There will also be a screening of Mauritz Stiller’s 1919 film Sir Arne’s Treasure with live musical accompaniement.

Speaking from Cannes, EIFF Artistic Director Chris Fujiwara said: “Our Focusses on Korea and Sweden are major components of EIFF’s programme this year. These are undoubtedly two of the most consistently interesting national cinemas, both with a great abundance of filmmaking talent. We have an outstanding selection of stimulating and challenging films from both countries and we’re very happy to be showcasing them.”

The Focus on Korea is supported by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korean Film Council, and the Korean Cultural Centre UK. The Focus on Sweden is supported by the Swedish Film Institute. You can find out more about Edinburgh International Film Festival on its official website here.