FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 1, 2024

CINEMA GUILD ACQUIRES HONG SANGSOO’S A TRAVELER'S NEEDS, STARRING ISABELLE HUPPERT

NEW YORK, NY (May 1, 2024) – Cinema Guild announced today the acquisition of North American distribution rights for A Traveler's Needs, directed by Hong Sangsoo and starring Isabelle Huppert. The film won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize when it premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year. Cinema Guild will release the film in theaters following its North American festival premiere later this year.

A comedy of improbable encounters and unlikely language lessons, A Traveler's Needs marks the third collaboration between Hong and Huppert (following 2012’s In Another Country and 2017’s Claire’s Camera). This time Huppert plays Iris, a woman who finds herself adrift in Seoul and without any means to make ends meet, turns to teaching French via a très peculiar method. Through a series of encounters, as we grow to know more about Iris and her situation, the mysteries of her circumstances only deepen.

A charming troupe of Hong regulars complete the cast, including Lee Hyeyoung as one of Huppert's students and Kwon Haehyo as her flirty husband. A film about meaning and connection and the comfort of makgeolli, A Traveler’s Needs, offers a surprising take on inter-continental rendezvous and continues one of the most unique actor-director collaborations in contemporary cinema.

"A Traveler's Needs hits like a meteorite from another galaxy," said Cinema Guild President Peter Kelly. "Huppert delivers a beguiling and hilarious performance. Her Iris is a character that only Hong and Huppert, with their singular talents, could combine to create."

The deal was negotiated by Peter Kelly of Cinema Guild with Youngjoo Suh of Finecut.

A Traveler's Needs headlines a busy year for Huppert who also premiered André Téchiné's My New Friends at Berlin and will star in Patricia Mazuy's Visiting Hours in Cannes Directors' Fortnight. The film also marks the second time Hong has won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize in Berlin (the first was for The Novelist's Film in 2022), and it extends a remarkable run of five consecutive years he has had a film at the Berlinale.

A premier distributor of world cinema, independent films and documentaries, Cinema Guild's upcoming releases include Hong's In Our Day, Angela Schanelec's Music and the 4K restoration of Shinji Somai's Moving. Recent releases include Bas Devos' Here and Deborah Stratman's Last Things.

For press inquiries, please contact us at:

(212) 685-6242 or press at cinemaguild dot com

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