‘Lay the Ghost’ Selected to Represent BIFAN at Fantastic 7

Director YU Eunjeong to participate in global online pitching event 
for Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film on July 11
‘Lay the Ghost’ expected to give fresh impetus to the global film world


¡ã Fantastic 7 selection: Lay the Ghost by YU Eunjeong

The 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN, Festival Director: SHIN Chul) will be introducing Lay the Ghost by YU Eunjeong at this year’s Fantastic 7 program. YU will be participating in a global online pitching event for the Marché du Film on July 11. 

Lay the Ghost uses a story about one family’s tragic secret that has carried on for generations as its key motif. By doing so, the depravity of big corporation and the selfishness of human nature are meticulously depicted in sensory manner.

“The house that is being haunted by the ghost of a child who was sacrificed for no reason, and the solidarity between the girls in the film who try to break free from the fetters of a tragedy created by adults, will give a fresh impetus to the global film world, which is looking for a new angle in the horror genre,” predicted BIFAN programmer and NAFF project market judge MO Eunyoung. She went on to praise YU Eunjeong for “using the horror genre to illustrate the structural inconsistencies in Korean society and the lives of the women living in that society,” and added that she is “looking forward to [YU’s] future films.”

Lay the Ghost is an official selection from BIFAN’s 2019 NAFF project market. When choosing a film project to submit to the Fantastic 7 program, BIFAN selects an official NAFF project market selection from a previous year. Superpower Girl (KIM Sooyoung) and ILLICIT (KANG Minji) were chosen to represent BIFAN in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
 

¡ã Lay the Ghost

This year’s Marché du Film is scheduled to be held for nine days from July 6 to 15. The film market, which normally opens in May alongside the Cannes Film Festival, made the decision to operate online again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Directors of the projects that have been selected for Fantastic 7 will be taking part in meetings and pitching events via an online platform.

YU Eunjeong made her debut with the film Ghost Walk in 2018 and received the Audience Award in the Bucheon Choice: Features category at the 22nd BIFAN. At BIFAN’s NAFF project market in 2019, she took home the Korean Award, which awards 5 million won to Korean film projects. 

Fantastic 7 was launched in 2019 to promote fantastic genre films. It seeks to establish networks between genre film festivals around the world, foster global talents, and discover and develop genre cinema. The other film festivals that take part in the program include: Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, Toronto International Film Festival, South by Southwest, Guadalajara International Film Festival, Cairo International Film Festival, and New Zealand  International Film Festival. Film projects selected by the seven film festivals are presented at Marché du Film and have a chance to be introduced to film professionals from around the world.

The 25th BIFAN will be held from July 8-18. For 11 days, the festival will offer both online and offline screenings, as well as audience events. 

¡á Lay the Ghost

Director: YU Eunjeong
Producer: PARK Doohee
Production Company: Film Run Co., Ltd.
Genre: fantasy, horror

Synopsis
Fourteen-year-old Suan wakes up from a coma after three years, without any memory of her older sister’s death. She returns to school and meets a girl named Jaein, whose resemblance to her sister helps Suan remember details about her sister’s death. However, what she remembers doesn’t match up with what her mother has told her. Suan goes to her old house with Jaein to discover the truth.