Cannes: Kore-Eda Hirokazu Says ‘Broker’ Is the Story of a Family of Choice

Pachinko star Kim Min-ha has opened up about what the second season of the Apple TV+ K-drama has in store for viewers.In a new interview with Deadline, the South Korean actress teased what viewers can expect from the much-anticipated continuation of the hit K-drama series. Kim played the teenaged version of the shows main character Kim Sunja, whose adult version is portrayed by Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh-jung.“[Sunja will] become stronger, even though there are so many burdens on her shoulders,” Kim hinted.

BTS member J-Hope is set to be the first member of the boyband to release new music, according to Big Hit Music.A day after the septet announced their temporary hiatus from group activities, a representative from Big Hit Music confirmed that the group will be releasing new solo material and collaborations during their break from group engagements.Of the members, J-Hope is slated to be the first to release new solo music, with a full-length solo album reportedly in the works, per Billboard. Further details on the rapper’s forthcoming release are expected to be released in the coming weeks.“[The hiatus] will be a time for each of the members to grow with their diverse activities, and we anticipate that this will foster BTS into a long-running team,” the representative told South Korean media outlets, as translated by Soompi.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentBack in Japan after his Korean-language drama “Broker” won two prizes at this year’s Cannes festival, Kore-eda Hirokazu appeared as a press event in Tokyo on Tuesday to announce the launch of a group of industry professionals who aim for structural reform of the Japanese film industry.The group calls itself the “Association for the Establishment of a Japanese Version of CNC.” The reference is to France’s government-backed oversight body, the Centre National du Cinema et de l’Image Animee. Kore-eda noted the low incomes and long working hours of freelance filmmakers and emphasized the need for reform.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAction-drama film, “Emergency Declaration” pulled together several of Korea’s top stars – Song Kang-ho (“Parasite”), Lee Byung Hun (“G.I. Joe”) and Jeon Do-yeon (“The Housemaid,” “Secret Sunshine”) – and it first took to the air as a Midnight Screening at the Cannes Film Festival, back in July 2021.Directed by Han Jae-rim, the story involves a veteran police detective who receives a tip-off about an unspecified terrorist threat against a plane. Puzzlingly, he discovers that the chief suspect has got on the flight too.

Getting back in the game. Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk has already started thinking about new games and challenges for the players to take on in season 2.

Broker lead actor Song Kang-ho has shared his thoughts on his recent Best Actor win at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.In a recent interview with South Korean outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, the South Korean actor, who plays Sang-hyun in the film, shared his sentiments on “finally” taking home an award at the Cannes Film Festival after previously starring in six films that have all debuted at the festival prior.Song is the second Korean to win Best Actor, after Jeon Do-yeon for 2007’s Secret Sunshine. “Of course, winning an award from such a prestigious festival as Cannes is a great and happy moment, an unforgettable turning point of my life,” Song said, before adding that awards are not as significant as they might seem.“I don’t think the action [of receiving an award] itself holds much significance,” he explained.

Eric Nam has opened up about his experience growing up Korean-American and how it has influenced his career.The 33-year-old singer-songwriter recently appeared in an episode of The Zach Sang Show, where he opened up about his Korean heritage. During the interview, Nam confessed that he previously thought of being a Korean-American as a “hindrance”.“I think for a long time, being a Korean-American, or being Asian-American in the States, it felt as if it was a hindrance, or it was like, something that was supposed to hold me back,” he shared.

Arden Cho is confirming the reason she did not return for. In an interview with, the 36-year-old actress confirmed a report that she was “offered half the per-episode salary offered to her three counterparts.”  “I think I was actually offered even less,” she told, speaking out about the pay disparity for the first time.

BTS after meeting the group during their visit to the White House on May 31.It was announced earlier in May that the band would be visiting the White House to address the issue of “Asian inclusion and representation” and to discuss their platform “as youth ambassadors who spread a message of hope and positivity across the world”.They sat down with Biden on the last day of AANHPI Heritage Month, with their conversation on the topic being marked as the first to occur between Korean artists and a US president in the Oval Office.In a video shared on Biden’s Twitter, the group are seen walking up the White House lawn to meet the president, with RM commenting: “It’s an honour to meet you, Mr. President,” as Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook walk alongside.“This is an important month here in America. A lot of our Asian American friends have been subject to real discrimination,” Biden said in the video.

Broker and Decision to Leave have made history at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, marking the first time two Korean works have won at the same ceremony.The upcoming Korean films Broker and Decision To Leave have both taken home one award each at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, marking the first time two Korean films have won an award at the festival in the same year.South Korean actor Song Kang-ho, who rose to international prominence in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite in 2019, took home the Best Actor award for his role in Broker, which was directed by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda. This makes Song the second Korean, after Jeon Do-yeon for 2007’s Secret Sunshine to win the award, and the first Korean male actor to do so.During his acceptance speech, the 55-year-old actor thanked director Hirokazu Kore-eda, along with his Broker co-stars Gang Dong-won, IU, Lee Joo-young and Bae Doo-na.

Following the sparsely attended media conference for Close at Cannes this morning, journalists packed their way into the press room to hear Broker director Hirokazu Kore-Eda and cast, giving them a standing ovation.

Broker, starring singer-actress IU, was given a 12-minute standing ovation at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.Broker, the first-ever Korean-language film by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, recently premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on May 27. Once the screening had concluded, the fil received a 12-minute-long standing ovation from those in-attendance, according to a report from Korean news outlet Edaily.The publication also claimed that the standing ovation began with Cannes Film Festival’s executive director, Thierry Frémaux.

In Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters,” a group of small-time thieves forms their own makeshift family, living every day not only through pure survival instinct but a genuine love for each other. For his first film set in Korea, the Japanese filmmaker reflects on similar themes in “Broker,” a road trip odyssey reflecting on the family we choose and the family we tearfully let go of.

The Palme d’Or can be a blessing and curse, a gold-plated sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of filmmakers lucky enough to claim it. After the first waves of shock and joy recede, and their subsequent year-long victory lap reaches the finish line, those same filmmakers are left alone with one troubling thought: What’s next? Director Hirokazu Kore-eda offers a fine case study in how that question might trip someone up.

Esteemed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda walks a fine line between keen social observation and overt sentimental emotionalism in Cannes competition title Broker.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticWhile Americans’ attention is consumed with the issue of abortion, halfway across the world, director Kore-eda Hirokazu (“Shoplifters”) focuses on the alternative for mothers who carry their pregnancies to term, but can’t raise the children on their own. A warm and unexpectedly nonjudgmental look at the Korean gray market for adoption, “Broker” was inspired by the idea of “baby hatches” — essentially, a donation station for unwanted infants — and follows the director’s natural curiosity through to its most humanistic conclusion, as audiences unexpectedly come to empathize with practically everyone involved in the buying and selling of a little bundle of joy.What is Kore-eda, who is Japanese, doing making a film in South Korea, you might ask? It’s not his first time working abroad.

Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s next directorial effort is the baby-napping (kidnapping for babies) drama “Broker” which stars Song Kang-ho, who previously played the patriarch in the Best Picture winner “Parasite” and is a fixture of South Korean cinema. Kore-eda, a Japanese filmmaker, made waves in the film awards circuit with his fantastic 2018 drama “Shoplifters” which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and even etched out a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination.

GOT7 member Mark Tuan has teased his debut solo album, saying that he’s done working on the upcoming record.In a recent interview with Singles Magazine, the Taiwanese-American K-pop idol revealed that he had recently completed an “album-like project”, just prior to his arrival in South Korea to join GOT7 for the boyband’s comeback.“I’ve worked on a lot more songs than the singles that have been released,” said Tuan, as translated by Soompi. “Before I came to Korea, I hastily finished working on an album-like project then threw a listening party for my friends and staff members and the response was good.”The Taiwanese-American singer added that he had prepared “quite a lot” of songs, and that everybody at his listening party had different favourites.

JAY B has shared how it doesn’t feel real to have finally reunited with boyband GOT7 and released a brand-new project after being apart for so long.Yesterday (May 23), the septet returned with their brand-new self-titled EP, which featured the title track ‘NANANA’. The project marks GOT7’s first official comeback since departing long-time agency JYP Entertainment in January 2021, after which the seven members embarked on solo careers.“We told each other that all seven of us should be part of our new mini-album, but it is still surreal to see that we have actually made this happen,” JAY B said of ‘GOT7’ during a recent press conference for the release, per The Korea Times.