Official poster for "Hope" (Forged Film's official Instagram)

By Koh Hyun Jeong

"Hope," director Na Hong-jin's first film in 10 years, has been invited to the main competition section of the Cannes Film Festival in France.

The Cannes executive committee on April 9 in a news conference released the official lineup of invited films for the event's 79th edition.

"Hope" is the first Korean film in four years to be invited to compete for Cannes' top prize. In 2022, "Decision to Leave" by director Park Chan-wook and "Broker," a work by a Korean production company and directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda of Japan, made the cut.

In "Hope," a mysterious being appears in a port village in the Demilitarized Zone, the buffer zone between the two Koreas.

The cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung and Jung Ho-yeon as well as Hollywood stars Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.

Scheduled from May 12-23, the festival will see Park lead the competition jury, the first Korean to do so.

hjkoh@korea.kr