“Wow, this is amazing.”
Director Park Chan-wook, the Jury President of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, reportedly shared these words with Director Yeon Sang-ho after watching the world premiere of ‘Swarm’ on May 16 (local time) at the Lumiere Theatre in Cannes, France. It is quite unusual for the Competition Jury President to attend a screening in the non-competitive Midnight Screening section. Accompanied by General Delegate Thierry Frémaux, Director Park even greeted the ‘Swarm’ team with warm hugs on the red carpet before the screening.
The local reaction to Director Yeon and lead actors Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Shin Hyun-bin, and Kim Shin-rok was electric. Even though the screening took place around midnight, crowds flocked to the red carpet. Some international fans even brought signs with photos of the actors and messages in Korean, such as “Nice to meet you” and “Welcome.” Cheers and applause erupted both on the red carpet and inside the theater, with the 2,300-seat venue nearly full.
‘Swarm’ is Director Yeon’s third zombie film, following ‘Train to Busan’ (2016) and ‘Peninsula’ (2020). The story follows biotechnology expert Kwon Se-jung (Jun Ji-hyun), security guard Choi Hyun-seok (Ji Chang-wook), and Hyun-seok’s sister Choi Hyun-hee (Kim Shin-rok) as they fight for survival in a large city shopping mall after a biologist with twisted beliefs, Seo Young-chul (Koo Kyo-hwan), releases a virus. What sets this apart from typical zombie movies is that the infected “update” through learning, gradually exhibiting sophisticated swarm behavior.
After the screening, the audience gave a five-minute standing ovation, and some even mimicked the zombies’ movements from the film. Director Yeon, invited to Cannes for the fourth time, shared, “It is an honor to present ‘Swarm’ at the Cannes Film Festival, a place I’ve always dreamed of. The passionate support will be a memory I’ll cherish for a long time in my filmmaking career.”
Speaking with the Korean press later that afternoon, Director Yeon recalled, “I was so flustered because Director Park showed up unexpectedly. When he told me it was ‘amazing’ after the screening, I felt shy but it made me want to come back to Cannes again.” He explained that the idea of “zombies with collective intelligence” was inspired by the operational structure of Artificial Intelligence (AI). “Unlike AI, which is a sum of universal thoughts, humans can offer minority opinions. I wanted to convey the message that individuality is a precious human characteristic,” he added.
Jun Ji-hyun looked back on the experience, saying, “I felt so emotional right after the screening. Just the fact that a Korean film was screened in France and received applause from so many international viewers was touching.” While she visited Cannes in 2011 to promote ‘The Secret Fan’ directed by Wayne Wang, this is her first time attending as the lead of an official screening.
Having worked with Director Yeon for the first time, Jun Ji-hyun expressed her desire to join the “Yeon-niverse” (Yeon Sang-ho Universe) for future projects. “As an actor, there are many times when I hit a wall, and I long for someone to lead me,” she said. “I feel like I can experience that with Director Yeon, so I’m eager. I want to work hard and become the director’s true persona within the Yeon-niverse.”
