'Harbin' starring Hyun Bin was officially invited to the Toronto International Film Festival

The movie 'Harbin' was officially invited to the Gala Presentations section of the 49th Toronto International Film Festival and made its debut to audiences around the world.

'Harbin' is a spy drama that depicts the breathtaking chase and suspicion between those who head to Harbin for a single purpose and those who pursue them in 1909. Hyun Bin, Park Jung-min, Jo Woo-jin, Jeon Yeo-bin, Park Hoon, Yoo Jae-myung, and Lee Dong-wook appear. Hyun Bin played the role of doctor Ahn Jung-geun.

Director Woo Min-ho's new film 'Harbin' was officially invited to the Gala Presentation section of the 49th Toronto International Film Festival, which will be held from September 5 to September 15. The Toronto International Film Festival announced on June 18 (local time) that the film 'Harbin' was invited and that 'Harbin' would be presented to audiences through a world premiere screening at the festival.

The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the world's four largest international film festivals, along with the Cannes International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and Venice International Film Festival. In particular, it is a film festival attended by a large number of actual officials from the North American film industry, among film officials from all over the world, and it is also a film festival where a large number of Hollywood commercial films enter the market. 'Harbin' was invited to an international film festival, which is rare for a film based on Korean history, and met audiences around the world.

The gala presentation section where 'Harbin' is introduced is a screening for the general public with special guests attending, including director Kim Ji-woon's 'The Good, the Bad, and the Weird' (2008), director Im Sang-soo's 'The Housemaid' (2010), and Cho Ui-seok. Director's 'Watchers' (2013), director Lee Jeong-jae's 'Hunt' (2022), director Eom Tae-hwa's 'Concrete Utopia', and director Ryu Seung-wan's 'Smuggling' (2023) have been invited. Cameron Bailey, executive chairman of the Toronto International Film Festival, who announced the news of Harbin's invitation, said, "I am very excited to be able to invite the director's film, which depicts a historical story in an amazing way, to the world premiere." Senior programmer Anita Lee revealed the reason for inviting 'Harbin', saying, "It is very surprising that a historical event was portrayed using comprehensive film art, and it is a beautiful film in which filming, acting, and narrative all blend well."

Director Woo Min-ho's next film, 'Harbin', which includes 'The Managers of Namsan' and 'Inside Men'. In this work, Hive Media Corp, the production company of 'Spring in Seoul', which has worked with director Woo Min-ho for a long time, and Hong Kyung-pyo, the cinematographer of 'Snowpiercer', 'Parasite', and 'Deliver Us from Evil', have joined in Korea, Latvia, It was conducted in a total of three countries, including Mongolia.

Director Woo Min-ho's new film 'Harbin' is scheduled to be released in Korea in the second half of the year after its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr