Thursday, May 21, 2026

Post Oscar Winning “Parasite”: Cannes 2021 Line Up Excludes South Korea Films in Competition for First Time in Five Years

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Cannes 2021 has unleashed its line up, and South Korea filmmakers must be perplexed.

Two years ago, at the last Cannes, “Parasite” took the festival by storm. Bong Joon-ho’s social satire won the Palme D’Or and went on to win the Academy Award.

“Parasite” marked the fifth year in a row that South Korean films were in the main competition at Cannes.

They included: Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden” in 2016, Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja” (2017), Hong’s “The Day After” (2017), and Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning.”

So it was expected the streak would continue. But no South Korean film is in the mix this year.

“Emergency Declaration,” directed by Han Jae-rim, and “In Front of Your Face” by Hong Sang-soo were invited to this year’s Cannes Film Festival. But out of competition, in side showings. There is no chance of a Palme D’Or even if they receive ecstatic receptions.

And that’s the way the Croisette crumbles!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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