Seoul-based sales company Finecut has closed a string of international deals for Justin H. Min-starring drama Journey There and Hong Sangsoo’s Locarno award winner Nowhere to Lay My Eyes.
The company announced the sales Friday, the third and final day of TIFFCOM, the content market held alongside the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Journey There has sold to Japan’s KDDI Corporation, Israel’s Lev Cinema, Mongolia’s Izagur Media and Taiwan’s Andrews Film. Kairos Distribution acquired inflight rights.
Directed by Kim Jin-yu, the drama follows a middle-aged woman who, after losing her husband, begins preparing for a journey of her own, only to find unexpected connections in her new apartment. The film marks the first Korean production for Min, whose credits include Netflix’s Beef and The Umbrella Academy and Kogonada’s After Yang.
Journey There is Kim’s second feature following Bori and was produced by his company Pado. The film opened in South Korea on Oct. 28 after festival appearances in Moscow and at the New York Asian Film Festival. It has also been invited to the Paris Korean Film Festival and London Korean Film Festival.
Hong’s Nowhere to Lay My Eyes, meanwhile, added deals with Kligger for Argentina, Carlotta Films for France, Mimosa Films for Japan and The Stone and the Plot for Portugal.
Those acquisitions follow previously announced sales to Austria’s Filmgarten, China’s Hugoeast, North America’s Cinema Guild, Spain’s Atalante, Taiwan’s Cola Films and the U.K.’s Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Hong’s 35th feature, Nowhere won three prizes at the 79th Locarno Film Festival: best direction, best performance for Kim Minhee and the independent Ecumenical Jury Prize. The film follows a woman who travels with her brother to visit their mother on Jeju Island after a decade apart.
Produced by Jeonwonsa Film Co., Nowhere to Lay My Eyes reunites Hong with regular collaborators Kim and Kwon Haehyo and marks his first collaboration with Choi Myeonggil, whose credits include the television series Durian’s Affair.
Finecut’s next market is the American Film Market, where its slate includes animated feature Long Long Night, set for its first market screening in an English-dubbed version. The company is also handling July Jung’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection Dora and fantasy period romance Wi-Fi Love in the Palace, starring The Boyz member Kim Young-hoon.
