South Korean director Park Chan-Wook poses during a photocall after he won the Best Director prize for the film "Decision to Leave (Heojil Kyolshim)" during the closing ceremony of the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 28, 2022. South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, the first from his country to head the Cannes film festival jury, will preside over the 79th edition in May. AFP-Yonhap

CANNES, France — Director Park Chan-wook told AFP on Monday that he was hugely moved to make history as the first ever South Korean head of the Cannes Film Festival jury in a further sign of his country's cultural rise.

"I cannot help but feel a sense of emotion, realising that for the first time, a Korean has become the head of the jury" of the world's top film festival. "The moment has finally come."

He said he took it as further proof of South Korea's cultural influence, with Boon Jong Ho becoming the first Korean to win Cannes' top prize, the Palme d'Or in 2019 with "Parasite," which went on to win four Oscars.

Park, the maker of arthouse classics such as "Oldboy," "The Handmaiden" and "Decision to Leave," said there "was a long period when Korean cinema was treated as if it were from some kind of peripheral nation, yet even during that time, Korea had excellent directors and actors.

"Now Korea is playing a role as one of the central hubs of the film world, and I believe this is a movement befitting the times. It makes me think of a lot of the predecessors who were truly outstanding but never had the opportunity to be recognised internationally."

His own relationship with the Korean government has not always been smooth.

Park was blacklisted for a period with a string of other artists including Boon more than a decade ago.

Since then Park, like Boon, has been embraced by Hollywood, and is about to make a Western called "The Brigands of Rattlecreek" with a galaxy of US stars including Matthew McConaughey and Pedro Pascal.

He told AFP that he loves American Westerns because they are stories about "people building something out of nothing."

Source: Korea Times News