{"id":76888,"date":"2025-11-02T20:13:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T04:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=76888"},"modified":"2025-11-02T20:13:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T04:13:19","slug":"korean-director-park-chan-wooks-new-film-no-other-choice-to-open-the-2025-asian-world-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=76888","title":{"rendered":"Korean Director Park Chan-wook\u2019s New Film \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d to Open the 2025 Asian World Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAPost \/ Los Angeles (November 2, 2025)<\/strong> \u2014 According to an official press release from the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), Korean director Park Chan-wook\u2019s<\/strong> latest film \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d<\/em> has been selected as the opening film<\/strong> of this year\u2019s festival, which will take place November 11\u201320<\/strong> at the Culver Theatre<\/strong> in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

In July 2025, \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d<\/em> was selected for the main competition<\/strong> at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival<\/strong>, where it competed for the Golden Lion. It was also chosen as the opening film<\/strong> of the 30th Busan International Film Festival<\/strong>. The Korean Film Council<\/strong> later confirmed that the film would represent South Korea in the Best International Feature Film<\/strong> category at the 98th Academy Awards<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Following its world premiere in Venice, the film received a nine-minute standing ovation<\/strong> and scored 3.7 out of 4<\/strong> in the festival\u2019s official publication CIAK in Mostra<\/em>. On Rotten Tomatoes<\/strong>, \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d<\/em> achieved a 100% Fresh rating<\/strong>, with all 39 critics and journalists giving it positive reviews. Before its theatrical release in Korea, the film sold over 400,000 pre-sale tickets<\/strong>, setting the highest pre-sale record<\/strong> for a Korean film in 2025.<\/p>\n

On its opening day, the film drew more than 330,000 viewers<\/strong>, topping the box office and marking the highest opening-day performance<\/strong> of Park Chan-wook\u2019s career. It went on to lead the daily box office for nine consecutive days<\/strong>, and drew over 600,000 viewers<\/strong> during its opening weekend.<\/p>\n

According to reports, Park began developing \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d<\/em> in 2017<\/strong> but faced repeated difficulties securing investment and distribution. However, after the casting announcement featuring Park Chan-wook<\/strong>, Lee Byung-hun<\/strong>, and Son Ye-jin<\/strong>, production interest quickly surged. On April 26, 2025<\/strong>, the film was officially confirmed to be financed and distributed by CJ ENM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF)<\/strong>, widely regarded as the premier Asian film festival in the United States<\/strong>, will showcase outstanding films from more than 30 Asian countries<\/strong>, including 20 national Oscar submissions<\/strong> for Best International Feature. Fifteen films will compete for the Snow Leopard Trophies<\/strong>, awarded in categories such as Best Film<\/strong>, Best Actor<\/strong>, Best Actress<\/strong>, Jury Discretionary Award<\/strong>, Special Jury Prize<\/strong>, and Audience Award<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In addition to \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d<\/em>, the closing film<\/strong> of this year\u2019s festival will be \u201cThe Voice of Hind Rajab\u201d<\/em>, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania<\/strong> of Tunisia. Other festival highlights include Cannes Palme d\u2019Or winner \u201cIt Was Just an Accident\u201d<\/strong>, \u201cA Useful Ghost\u201d<\/strong> by Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke<\/strong>, and \u201cLeft-Handed Girl\u201d<\/strong> directed by Shih-Ching Tsou<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The festival will also feature five world premieres<\/strong>, including \u201cLove and Karma\u201d<\/em> directed by Giovannie Espiritu<\/strong> and \u201cSisterhood\u201d<\/em> directed by Yoon Eun-kyoung<\/strong>. A special 10th anniversary screening<\/strong> of \u201cDragon Blade\u201d<\/em>, starring Jackie Chan<\/strong>, will be held to celebrate the milestone. The film\u2019s Hong Kong director, Daniel Lee<\/strong>, will attend the festival in person for this commemorative event, revisiting the historical action epic with audiences.<\/p>\n

AWFF Executive Director and CEO Georges N. Chamchoum<\/strong> stated, \u201cFrom the beginning, our mission has been to celebrate the diversity and creativity of Asian cinema. Over the past eleven years, we have showcased films from more than fifty Asian nations and regions \u2014 stories that reveal the vibrant soul of Asia to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the full lineup and ticket information, visit the festival\u2019s official website: asianworldfilmfest.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAPost \/ Los Angeles (November 2,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-ca-local","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76888"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76889,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76888\/revisions\/76889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}