Filmmaker Park Chan Wook Becomes Second Korean Director To Win Big At The 2022 Cannes Film Festival

Director Park Chan Wook won big at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the second Korean director to win the coveted award of “Best Director” at the prestigious event, cementing the global appeal of Korean entertainment.

PARK Chan-Wook, lauréat du Prix de la mise en scène pour HEOJIL KYOLSHIM (DECISION TO LEAVE)
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PARK Chan-Wook, award winner of the Best Director for HEOJIL KYOLSHIM (DECISION TO LEAVE)#Cannes2022 #Palmares #Awards #DECISIONTOLEAVE pic.twitter.com/H7IipAstft

— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 28, 2022

He was nominated for his work on Decision To Leave, which stars Park Hae Il and Chinese actress Tang Wei. Inspired by Swedish detective novel series The Story Of A Crime and, unexpectedly, the 1967 K-Pop song “Mist,” the story revolves around a Korean detective who falls for the enigmatic widow of a murdered Chinese immigrant as he tries to solve the man’s murder.

*Decision To Leave* film poster | *IMDb*

With this award, Park Chan Wook follows in the footsteps of director Im Kwon Taek, who was the first Korean filmmaker to win “Best Director” at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 with the historical drama Chihwaseon.

Park Chan Wook’s Decision To Leave proves that Korean entertainment is only getting bigger and bigger among international audiences, just as Netflix‘s Squid Game did last year and Bong Joon Ho‘s Parasite did in 2019, the latter of which won the “Palme d’Or” at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, and, of course, “Best Picture” at the 92nd Academy Awards (becoming the first Korean film to do so).

The cast of *Parasite* at the *92nd Academy Awards* | *Reuters*

The fact that Decision To Leave wasn’t the only Korean film to win at this year’s Cannes Film Festival is particularly meaningful, and not just because it proves the mass reach of Korean entertainment. Speaking after the ceremony, Park Chan Wook shared some thoughts about the artistic collaborations taking place between different Asian cultures in Decision To Leave, as well as in fellow winning Korean film Broker (directed by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda).

While my film stars Chinese actress Tang, Broker (with an all-Korean cast and dialogue) is directed and written by a Japanese filmmaker. It’s meaningful that such exchanges of human resources and capital are taking place in Asia … And I feel proud to see that Korea can be at the center of that.

— Park Chan Wook

IU, Gang Dong Won, and Song Kang Ho in *Broker* | *Mubi*

Starring IU and actor Song Kang Ho, Broker also had a big night at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, with Song Kang Ho scoring a “Best Actor” award and with IU practically stealing the show on the red carpet.

Read further about Song Kang Ho’s big win on the link below.