Seoul-based sales company Finecut has closed a new round of international territory deals for two Korean films: Kim Jin-yu’s Journey There, starring Justin H. Min, and Hong Sangsoo’s Nowhere to Lay My Eyes, a triple prize winner at the 79th Locarno Film Festival. The deals were announced on Friday, October 30, 2026, the final day of TIFFCOM, the content market held alongside the Tokyo International Film Festival. The new pacts add to earlier sales for both titles and mark another strong showing for Korean cinema on the global market. Journey There opened in South Korean theaters on October 28, 2026, while Nowhere to Lay My Eyes is still waiting for a domestic release date in Korea.
Where Each Film Is Headed Around the World
Journey There has been sold to KDDI Corporation for Japan, Andrews Film for Taiwan, Lev Cinema for Israel, and Izagur Media for Mongolia. Kairos Distribution has picked up inflight rights, meaning the film will be available on airline entertainment systems. These deals follow the film’s release in Korea and its run on the festival circuit.
Nowhere to Lay My Eyes has added Carlotta Films for France, Mimosa Films for Japan, Kligger for Argentina, and The Stone and the Plot for Portugal. Those acquisitions build on previously announced sales to The Cinema Guild for North America, Filmgarten for Austria, Hugoeast for China, Atalante for Spain, Cola Films for Taiwan, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts for the U.K. The film had its world premiere at Locarno and has been selected as a Centrepiece title at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Journey There Marks Justin H. Min’s First Korean Film Role
Justin H. Min is known to global audiences for his roles in the Netflix series Beef and The Umbrella Academy, as well as the film After Yang. Journey There is his first Korean production and his first leading role in a Korean film. The drama is directed by Kim Jin-yu, marking his second feature after the 2018 film Bori, which premiered at Busan and won a Directors Guild of Korea award. The film was produced by Kim’s own company, Pado.
The story centers on Chun-hee, a middle-aged widow played by veteran actress Kim Hye-ok, who moves into a new apartment after her husband’s death. She brings along his grand piano, only to find it will not fit inside her smaller home. Her new neighbor, Min-jun (Min), a Korean adoptee from Germany who works as a conductor, offers to keep the piano in his flat. That small act of help grows into an unlikely friendship that crosses age, language, and cultural lines. The cast also includes Gong Min-jeung and Park Dae-ho, a piano major at the Korea National University of Arts who makes his acting debut in the film.
Journey There has been invited to several festivals, including the Moscow International Film Festival, the New York Asian Film Festival, and the Paris and London Korean Film Festivals. The film is 123 minutes long and was released in Korea on October 28, 2026.
Nowhere to Lay My Eyes Won Three Prizes at Locarno
Hong Sangsoo’s 35th feature film had a strong showing at the 79th Locarno Film Festival, where it won Best Direction, Best Performance, and the Ecumenical Jury Prize. Hong received the Best Direction award, while Kim Min-hee shared the Best Performance prize with Italian actress Monica Bellucci. Since 2023, Locarno has awarded a single, gender-neutral Best Performance prize rather than separate acting honors for men and women.
The Ecumenical Jury Prize is an independent award given by a jury convened by the Swiss Protestant and Catholic churches. It recognizes films that engage deeply with human dignity, social values, peace, and human rights. Hong has a long history with Locarno: he won Best Direction in 2013 for Our Sunhi and took the festival’s top prize, the Golden Leopard, in 2015 for Right Now, Wrong Then. This latest win gives him two Best Direction awards from the festival. Kim Min-hee has now won Best Performance at Locarno twice, having previously received the award for Hong’s 2024 film By the Stream.
The film follows Sang-hee (Kim Min-hee), who grew up in a divorced household. She travels with her younger brother to Jeju Island to find their mother, whom she last saw ten years ago. The cast includes Choi Myung-gil as the mother, along with Kwon Hae-hyo, Shin Seok-ho, and Park Mi-so. Hong Sangsoo handled directing, screenwriting, cinematography, sound, editing, and music, while Kim Min-hee served as both lead actress and production manager. The film runs 72 minutes and was produced by Jeonwonsa Film Co.
The Deals Were Finalized During a Busy Market Season
The new sales for both films were negotiated at the recently concluded Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) in Busan, according to Deadline. Finecut then brought the titles to TIFFCOM in Tokyo, where the deals were announced. The company is now moving on to the American Film Market (AFM) in Los Angeles, where its slate includes the animated feature Long Long Night, the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title Dora, and the fantasy romance Wi-Fi Love in the Palace, starring Kim Young-hoon of the K-pop group The Boyz.
Long Long Night is a 3D animated feature marking the directorial debut of Youm Kyu Bock. It has been pre-sold to Japan’s Geek Pictures Inc. ahead of its world premiere at Toronto, where it screens in the Centrepiece selection. The film then moves to the Busan International Film Festival’s competition lineup and the Sitges Film Festival, where it competes in the Anima’t section. The film adapts a bestselling Korean novel based on a true story that has sold more than 800,000 copies and was named to the International Youth Library’s 2021 White Ravens list in Munich. Kosano Tamotsu, CEO of Geek Pictures Inc., said the company was moved by the 15-minute promo footage, citing the bond between the last rhino on Earth and a penguin and the film’s message of living for someone else.
Dora is the third feature from director July Jung and premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. The Busan International Film Festival selected it for its Gala Presentation lineup. Finecut has closed deals for the film in Japan (Geek Pictures Inc.) and Taiwan (Light Year Images). Jung is the first Korean female director to have three consecutive features selected for Cannes. The film pairs rising Korean actress Kim Doyeon in the title role with Japanese actress Ando Sakura, known for Godzilla Minus One, Monster, and the Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters.
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A Strong Year for Korean Cinema on the Global Stage
The sales for Journey There and Nowhere to Lay My Eyes add to a busy period for Korean films on the international market. Finecut’s slate has moved from Busan’s ACFM to TIFFCOM and is now heading to AFM, carrying a mix of festival favorites and commercial titles. Nowhere to Lay My Eyes has already secured distribution across North America, the U.K., Spain, China, Austria, Taiwan, France, Japan, Argentina, and Portugal, giving Hong Sangsoo’s film a wide reach across multiple continents. Journey There, meanwhile, has locked in releases across Asia and the Middle East, with Kairos Distribution handling inflight rights for airline audiences.
Justin H. Min’s move into Korean cinema has drawn attention from both Korean and international press. In interviews ahead of the film’s release, Min said that acting in Korean was far harder than working in English, describing it as “10 times more” work, but added that local productions offer more nuanced Asian characters. He also said that being part of a Korean production meant he “never ha[s] to deal with the stereotypes” he has encountered in Hollywood. Journey There opened in Korean theaters on October 28, 2026, and its festival run continues with stops in Paris and London.
For more updates on Korean cinema, international film sales, and festival season news, keep reading VvipTimes.
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