On the 13th (local time), the opening ceremony was held at the Palais des Festivals in the southern French resort city of Cannes.
Prior to the opening ceremony, Director Hong appeared in a comfortable blue jacket at the jury press conference held that day. He joked, “I don’t know why I’m here,” and then briefly stated, “Anyway, I couldn’t come last time, but I’m happy to be here this time.”
He attracted attention by walking on the Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony red carpet. Wearing a neat tuxedo, Director Hong appeared with the jury, holding hands with Halle Berry, and walked the red carpet. His focused demeanor was also captured at the subsequent opening ceremony.
Notably, actress Kim Min-hee, who has been publicly in a relationship with Director Hong for nine years, appeared in public for the first time since the news of her recent childbirth, drawing attention.
Director Hong is serving as a jury member in the competition section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. This year’s jury chairman is French actress Juliette Binoche, and the jury includes American actress and director Halle Berry, Indian director and screenwriter Payal Kapadia, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan author Leila Slimani, Congolese director and documentary producer Dieudo Hamadi, Mexican director and producer Carlos Reygadas, and American actor Jeremy Strong, with a total of nine film professionals judging the competition section.
Notably, Director Hong is the sixth South Korean film professional to serve as a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. Previous South Korean film professionals invited as jury members for the competition section include Director Shin Sang-ok in 1994, Director Lee Chang-dong in 2009, Actress Jeon Do-yeon in 2014, Director Park Chan-wook in 2017, and Actor Song Kang-ho in 2021.
Meanwhile, this year’s Cannes Film Festival continues until the 24th. However, for the third consecutive year, no South Korean feature film has made it into the competition section.