Korean film industry insiders are speculating on the next move by director Hong Sang-soo and actress Kim Min-hee, who won the best actress award at the Berlin International Film Festival on Sunday for their film “On the Beach at Night Alone.”

The two have not yet made specific plans to return to Korea or hold a press conference here, as is customary after winning prominent international prizes.

“On the Beach at Night Alone,” Hong and Kim’s second collaboration, meanwhile, will open in local theaters on March 23

There is a possibility that Hong and Kim will shoot another film during their stay in Berlin, according to reports. The camera director of “Right Now, Wrong Then,” their first film together, is also in Cannes and given Hong’s spontaneous style of filming, shooting a fourth film together in Berlin is not such a remote possibility. 


Although Hong and Kim appeared together in Berlin and all but admitted to their romantic relationship, the two have not been spotted at an official event in Korea together since the press screening of “Right Now, Wrong Then” in September 2015. News of Hong’s extramarital affair with Kim broke last June and Hong is said to have filed for divorce.

According to reports, the two shot their third film together, called “La Camera de Claire (Claire’s Camera)” in Cannes during the Cannes International Film Festival last May, when Kim was in the French resort town to promote the film “The Handmaiden” by Park Chan-wook.

While Korean media is focused on the director and actress’s supposed affair, the film is receiving critical notice abroad.

During Saturday’s press conference for “On the Beach at Night Alone” in Berlin, Korean reporters questioned whether the film, the story of an actress pondering over her affair with a married director, was autobiographical.

Foreign reporters, meanwhile, questioned the nature of Hong’s characters, his minimalist style, and why he decided to deviate from traditional storytelling structures.

(doo@heraldcorp.com)