Hong Sang Soo’s film 'By the Stream' to release in North America

Director Hong Sang Soo's latest film, 'By the Stream', produced by Kim Min Hee, is set to be released in North America.

According to a report by Variety on August 5, 'By the Stream' will hit North American theaters next year. The film's distribution rights have been acquired by Cinema Guild, a Brooklyn-based distributor. Cinema Guild previously acquired the rights to Hong Sang Soo’s 2015 film 'Right Now, Wrong Then' and his 2012 film 'In Another Country.'

'By the Stream' follows the story of a young female college lecturer who asks her uncle, a blacklisted actor and director, to direct a play at her university. The synopsis is as follows: At a women’s college, there is a skit festival. A lecturer named Jeonim (played by Kim Min Hee) asks her uncle (played by Kwon Hae Hyo) to direct a skit for her department. Jeonim paints by the Suyu Stream every day, trying to capture the patterns for her work. Her uncle, who has been unable to work for years due to being blacklisted, agrees to direct because of a memory of directing a skit at the same college 40 years ago when he was a freshman. A scandalous incident occurs among the students participating in the skit, and Jeonim and her uncle get lightly involved. Meanwhile, the uncle grows close to a textile professor (played by Jo Yoon Hee), and the moon in the sky gets bigger every night while Jeonim continues to paint by the stream each morning.

'By the Stream' will have its world premiere in the competition section at the Locarno Film Festival, and will also be screened at the New York Film Festival. This film marks Hong Sang Soo’s 32nd directorial work and is set on a campus, following his earlier works 'Oki’s Movie' (2010) and 'Our Sunhi' (2013).

The Locarno Film Festival, which began in 1946, is held annually in August in Locarno, Switzerland, and is considered one of the world’s top six film festivals. With this invitation, 'By the Stream' becomes Hong Sang Soo’s fourth film to be officially invited to the Locarno Film Festival, following 'Our Sunhi' (2013), 'Right Now, Wrong Then' (2015), and 'Hotel by the River' (2018). Hong previously won the Golden Leopard award at this festival for 'Right Now, Wrong Then,' and the Best Director award for 'Our Sunhi.' Actors Ki Joo Bong and Jung Jae Young also received the Best Actor award for their roles in 'Hotel by the River' and 'Right Now, Wrong Then,' respectively.

The film stars Kim Min Hee, Kwon Hae Hyo, and Jo Yoon Hee, all of whom have appeared in several of Hong Sang Soo's previous works. This brings the total number of collaborations between Hong Sang Soo and Kim Min Hee to 15 films. Kim Min Hee also served as the production director for 'In Our Day.'

Hong Sang Soo, 22 years older than Kim Min Hee, has been in a controversial relationship with her since 2015. Since then, Kim Min Hee has only appeared in films directed by Hong Sang Soo.

Meanwhile, 'By the Stream' is scheduled to be released in South Korea later this year after its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival.

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