South Korea has selected historical action film 12.12.: The Day as the country’s Oscar entry for best international film.
The film was the highest-grossing film last year at the Korean box office and the decision to select it for the Oscars was a unanimous one, the Korean Film Council (Kofic) said.
Set against the backdrop of the December 1979 military coup, the film stars Hwang Jung-min, Jung Woo-sung, Lee Sung-min, Park Hae-joon and Kim Sung-kyun.
Directed by Kim Sung-su, the film was released in November last year. 12.12: The Day‘s domestic success marked the first time in four years since Parasite‘s release that a non-franchise local title crossed 12 million admissions.
12.12: The Day won the Grand Prize for Film and Best Film at Korea’s Baeksang Arts Awards. Hwang also picked up the Best Actor prize at the ceremony. Hwang played the role of Chun Doo-gwang (modeled after the real historical figure Chun Doo-hwan, who later became Korea’s president).
The film is produced by Hive Media Corp and distributed by Plus M Entertainment.