FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 4, 2018

Cinema Guild acquires Hong Sangsoo's Hotel by the River ahead of New York Film Festival premiere

NEW YORK, NY- Cinema Guild announced today the acquisition of all U.S. distribution rights to Hong Sangsoo's Hotel by the River. The film will make its U.S. premiere this weekend at the New York Film Festival. It was an official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival and lead actor Ki Joobong won the Pardo for Best Actor at the Locarno Film Festival when the film premiered in August. Hotel by the River will open in theaters in 2019.

The film tells the story of an aging poet, Younghwan (Ki Joobong), who summons his two estranged sons (Kwon Haehyo and Yu Junsang) to a solitary hotel beside the Han River because he feels his death is near. While waiting for them to arrive, he meets two women (Kim Minhee and Song Seonmi) out walking in the new-fallen snow and is struck by their angelic beauty. But the women have come to the hotel to do some healing of their own. As Younghwan moves between the women and his bickering sons, he also moves between his two minds: one that walks on the street and the other that communes with the eternal.

Shooting in gauzy black-and-white with a strikingly untethered hand-held camera, Korean master Hong Sangsoo interweaves the various dramas of his characters in a quiet, straightforward way. But small coincidences and privileged moments combine to create a powerful meditation on family and death, one of the most affecting films in Hong’s oeuvre.

"We always expect great things from Hong’s films," said Cinema Guild’s Peter Kelly, "but even we were unprepared for the clear-eyed revelation of his latest. Audiences will enjoy their stay at Hotel by the River."

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

Cinema Guild is a premier distributor of world cinema, independent films and documentaries, whose upcoming releases include Nuri Bilge Ceylan's The Wild Pear Tree and Hong Sangsoo’s Grass. Recent theatrical releases include RaMell Ross’ Hale County, This Morning, This Evening, Jim McKay’s En el Séptimo Día and Valeska Grisebach’s Western.

For press inquiries, please contact Cinema Guild at: (212) 685-6242 or press at cinemaguild dot com.



For press inquiries, please contact us at:

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

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