Canadian Premiere
Fresh from competing at the 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival, audience favourite Hong Sangsoo returns to VIFF with his latest film.
Novelist Junhee (Lee Hyeyoung) is taking a break from writing, going on a daytrip to a small town to visit an old friend’s bookstore. Their reminiscing of years gone by turns into a discussion of a local public garden, one of the town’s must-see local attractions. It’s there on a leisurely stroll that Junhee has a chance encounter with a famous actress and a former colleague, a movie director. Suddenly, an aimless afternoon reignites an idea that Junhee has been ruminating for some time: what if she were to write and direct her own film?
Variety calls Hong Sangsoo’s 28th feature a “gently circuitous, conversation-driven charmer.” Shot almost entirely in black and white and featuring semi-improvised performances from a cast of Hong regulars, including Kim Minhee and Kwon Haehyo, The Novelist’s Film is an effortless and playful look at how a single day spent with friends, both old and new, can realign an artist’s purpose.
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, Berlin 2022
Media Partner
Hong Sangsoo
Lee Hyeyoung, Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Park Miso, Kwon Haehyo, Cho Yunhee
South Korea
2022
In Korean with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Agatha's Almanac
Shot over six years on vibrant 16mm film, Agatha’s Almanac is an artful documentary portrait of filmmaker Amalie Atkin’s octogenarian aunt, who has fashioned herself an endearingly simple and self-sustaining lifestyle on her Manitoba farm.
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
This intimate and candid film by a younger husband and wife artist team is a delicate and immensely moving dual portrait of two artists, husband and wife, together and apart, at that point in life when the end casts a shadow over even the sunniest day.
Image: © Manon et Jacob and Final Cut For Real
Credits
Executive Producer
Hong Sangsoo
Producer
Hong Sangsoo
Screenwriter
Hong Sangsoo
Cinematography
Hong Sangsoo
Editor
Hong Sangsoo
Original Music
Hong Sangsoo

