’s press conference at the 27th Busan International Film Festival. “Of all the film festivals, the special one is still Busan,” says He. “That’s our first world premiere, so it was very special to me. Plus, it was in Korea and so to have Koreans reacting to the film and your cast there for the first time, you can’t top that.
“I’m still dealing with a lot of the distribution logistics,” the Camera d’Or-feted auteur reveals. “Because you never know what to expect.”Chen cites an incident where Korean producers and the reps of Yeo Jin-Goo, who has a cameo in, clashed over an unauthorised Yeo standee used to promote the film in Thailand. Turns out the unsanctioned publicity material was the handiwork of Yeo’s hardcore fans.
“He was trying to sound like he knows the film business and that he knows the business of getting rights to something to put into films,” He recalls. ‘He said, ‘Could you talk us through the mechanics of getting this Korean drama into your film? How did you find the scene?’ I said, ‘It’s not a real drama —at the Asian Civilisations Museum to mark the film’s Prime Video debut. Hong will be in attendance as well.