Cinema Guild has acquired North American distribution rights to prolific Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo’s latest feature Walk Up. The film is set to world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and will also play in competition at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Cinema Guild says it plans to release Walk Up in theaters in 2023 — following the company’s release of Hong’s other 2022 title, The Novelist’s Film, this fall.
Walk Up stars Kwon Haehyo — making his ninth appearance in a film by Hong — as a film director who goes with his daughter Jeongsu (Park Miso) to a building owned by an old friend (Lee Hyeyoung). After an involving tour of the structure, the director steps outside for a work call, only to return to the same place, albeit set in a different time.
With Walk Up, Hong returns to an interest in structure, a defining characteristic of his work. But this time the structure is a literal one. As Byunsgoo makes his way up the floors of the building, Hong fills these spaces with a profusion of everyday details spanning art, love, career, religion, dietary decisions and home renovations.
“With each new film, Hong Sangsoo continues to find new ways to surprise and delight us,” said Cinema Guild president Peter Kelly. “We can’t wait to see audiences react to Walk Up, a film strikingly original and strikingly Hong.”
The deal was negotiated by Kelly and Youngjoo Suh of Korean sales outfit Finecut.