"Past Lives" director Celine Song (right) and actor Teo Yoo on Feb. 28 pose for the cameras at the media screening and news conference for their film at the multiplex CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

By Xu Aiying
Photos = CJ ENM

"Coming to Korea and meeting and forming a team with filmmakers to jointly make my movie felt like a homecoming. That in itself was amazing, fun and good."

"Past Lives" director Celine Song said this on Feb. 28 at a media screening and news conference to promote the domestic release of her highly acclaimed film at the multiplex CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

As the Korean Canadian's cinematic debut that used a real story from her life, the movie depicts Na Young (played by Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), who reunite in New York for the first time in 24 years after being childhood friends in Seoul. The film has been nominated for Best Picture and Original Screenplay at this year's Academy Awards of the U.S. slated for March 10 in Los Angeles.

On the accolades for her work from famed directors such as Christopher Nolan and Guillermo del Toro, Song said, "I've spent all my life watching and loving their films," adding, "They met and talked to me, and I feel so grateful and honored since it's my first film."

Actor Teo Yoo, who plays Hae Sung in the film "Past Lives," on Feb. 28 answers questions at a media screening and news conference to promote the domestic release of the movie at the multiplex CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

Repeated throughout the film is the Korean word inyeon, which means "destiny" or "relationship." The term is familiar to Koreans but largely unknown to the rest of the world.

"No matter which country I go to show this film, the audience all come out of the theater saying the word inyeon," the director said. "Even if they don't know what inyeon means, the emotions and feelings of inyeon are something that anyone in the world can understand."

Also attending the news conference was actor Teo Yoo, who was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance at the British Academy Film Awards, aka the BAFTAs. Born in Germany and having lived in several countries including the U.S. and U.K., he called the immigrant-related tale "a work that changed his life."

"When I play a role in a film, I first look for something that I have in common with the character based on my multicultural background," he said on his role. "Given my personal life, what I and Hae Sung have in common is the 15 years I spent as an unknown actor and the regret Hae Sung feels due to his inability to change his environment and ultimately his fate."

"I embedded the sorrow and pain Hae Sung must accept in his situation into the role."

"Past Lives" is slated for domestic release on March 6.

xuaiy@korea.kr