Director Jung Ju-ri’s new film ‘Dora’, officially invited to the Directors’ Fortnight at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, held its successful world premiere on May 17th at the Théâtre Croisette.
Director Jung Ju-ri, along with lead actors Kim Do-yeon and Sakura Ando, attended the event, drawing intense interest from the global press.
‘Dora’ tells the story of a family who leaves Seoul for a summer beach villa. While there, Dora, who suffers from an unknown illness, experiences love for the first time, causing everything to slowly shift. The film is a joint production between France, Luxembourg, and Japan, inspired by Freud’s Dora case.
Before the screening, Director Jung Ju-ri, Kim Do-yeon, Sakura Ando, and cinematographer Irina Lubyansky took the stage to greet the packed audience.
Director Jung Ju-ri shared, “The film was completed just a week ago. It’s like it just came out of the lab. It feels like a dream to meet the audience like this. Thank you so much for inviting us. I’d like to introduce the true stars of our film, our two lead actors and the cinematographer.”
Kim Do-yeon, who plays the title role, said, “Hello. I am Kim Do-yeon, and I played Dora in ‘Dora’. (In French) I am very happy. Thank you so much.” Sakura Ando, who plays Nami, added, “I’m honored to be at Cannes for the third time. Since this is my first time seeing the movie today, I’m not sure how I’ll feel yet. Please understand if I end up hiding in the bathroom by myself (laughs).”
After the screening, the audience erupted in applause. Kim Do-yeon was moved to tears of emotion while expressing her gratitude to the crowd.
Following her feature debut ‘Do-hee’ (2014, Un Certain Regard) and her second feature ‘Next Sohee’ (2022, Closing Film of Critics’ Week), Director Jung Ju-ri has now had all three of her feature films released over the last 12 years invited to Cannes. She is the first female director in Korean cinema history to achieve this feat. ‘Dora’ is the first Korean film invited to the Directors’ Fortnight in three years since Director Hong Sang-soo’s ‘Our Day’ (2023).
Meanwhile, ‘Dora’ will have a rare separate red carpet event on May 18th, which is unusual for a Directors’ Fortnight invitee. Since the Directors’ Fortnight operates independently from the official competition, separate red carpets are rare, highlighting the high level of local interest in ‘Dora’.
Julien Lège, the President of the Directors’ Fortnight, introduced ‘Dora’ as a free and contemporary adaptation of Freud’s 1900 case study of Dora, stating that the core of the film lies in a young woman’s desires and the issues surrounding them.
Director Jung Ju-ri described the essence of the work as ‘recovery’, stating, “A being who has fully recovered cannot return to how they were before. They become a different being. I want to call that a leap of existence.”
After completing its world premiere at Cannes, ‘Dora’ is scheduled to be released in Korea in the second half of 2026.
