Actor Kim Min-hee made her first official public appearance since giving birth to a son with director Hong Sang-soo. Hong and Kim attended the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland together with their new film.
According to the Locarno Film Festival on the 14th (local time), Hong's 35th feature film "No Place to Look" was invited to the international competition institutional sector and screened there. At the post-screening Q&A, Hong and lead actor and production chief Kim Min-hee attended together.
It was the first time the two appeared together at an official event since having a son in April last year.
On the day, Kim Min-hee shared her experience of balancing film shooting and childcare after giving birth. Kim said, "Because it was the first film I shot after taking about two years off after having a baby, my condition was very different from before," and added, "I went to the set with the baby, so I had to breastfeed and make baby food."
Kim continued, "After finishing preparations for the child, giving my best to the film actually felt healthier," and said, "In that life, the mindset of gladly accepting each moment seems to have been naturally reflected in the character in the film."
No Place to Look follows Sang-hee, who grew up in a divorced family, as she heads to Jeju Island to find her mother after 10 years. Kim Min-hee stars in the lead role, while Hong handled directing, screenplay, cinematography, sound recording, editing, and music.
Hong and Kim Min-hee formed a connection through the 2015 film Right Now, Wrong Then and later publicly acknowledged their romantic relationship. Hong was married at the time, and the two have since worked together on multiple projects.
This is the fifth time Hong's work has been invited to Locarno. Hong won the best director award for Our Sunhi and the Golden Leopard for Right Now, Wrong Then. Kim Min-hee also won best performance at Locarno in 2024 for Hong's Sooyucheon.
No Place to Look is slated for release in Korea in the second half of this year.