“Concrete Utopia,” a film starring Lee Byung-hun, Park Seo-joon and Park Bo-young, has been selected as South Korea’s entry to the 96th Academy Awards or Oscars that will be held next year.
The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) announced on Aug. 17 that “Concrete Utopia” will be submitted to the Oscars for the Best International Feature Film category (formerly Best Foreign Language Film).
The stars of the Korean film "Concrete Utopia" (KOFIC / Lotte Entertainment)
In “Concrete Utopia,” a big earthquake hit Seoul and an apartment complex and its residents survived the disaster. The apartment complex residents gather together to prevent outsiders from taking shelter in the building, resulting in conflict.
The film also stars Kim Sun-young of “Reply 1988,” Park Ji-hu of “All of Us Are Dead” and Kim Do-yoon.
"Concrete Utopia" was released in South Korea on Aug. 9. As of Aug. 17, it has already sold 2.31 million tickets and grossed $16.77 million. It ranked No. 2 on the daily box office in Korea as of Aug. 17.
South Korea’s selection committee narrowed the choices to “Concrete Utopia” and the upcoming film “Cobweb” starring Song Kang-ho, Im Soo-jung, Oh Jung-se, Jeon Yeo-been and Krystal Jung.
“Concrete Utopia” was unanimously selected as Korea’s entry to the Oscars by all seven judges.
The jury’s statement said that in “Concrete Utopia,” the apartment building is the most Korean thing that symbolizes class and wealth and the film features ordinary people who want to survive.
It was stated the jury selected the film that is Korean yet aims for global standards, striking a good balance between artistry and popularity.
Based on the rules for the 96th Academy Awards for the International Feature Film Award, “An international film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the United States of America and its territories with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track. Animated and documentary feature films are permitted.”
“The country-selected film must be first released in the country of origin no earlier than December 1, 2022, and no later than October 31, 2023, and be first publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater for the profit of the producer and exhibitor,” it added.
According to the rules, “Only one film will be accepted from each country as the official selection. Films should be submitted to the Academy as soon as they are selected.”
The nominations for International Feature Film Award will be determined by two rounds of voting.
“All active and life Academy members will be invited to view the eligible submissions in the category. Those who opt in will be required to see a minimum number of submitted eligible films as defined by the current procedures. Members will vote by secret ballot in the order of their preference for not more than fifteen motion pictures. The fifteen motion pictures receiving the highest number of votes shall advance to next round of voting,” it said.
It added, “All active and life Academy members will be invited to view the fifteen shortlisted films in the category. A member must see all shortlisted films for the ballot to be counted. Members shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five motion pictures. The five motion pictures receiving the highest number of votes shall become the nominations for final voting for the International Feature Film award.”