[HanCinema's News] "Parasite" Emerges as Early Contender for Oscars Next Year

A recently published report by the American entertainment periodical Variety has singled out "Parasite" as a possible contender for next year's Academy Awards ceremony. While the mention is very brief, it has attracted strong attention, because "Parasite" is discussed alongisde domestic American films for a potential Best Picture nomination - it was not pigeonholed as being a strong contender only in the Best Foreign Film category.

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The report is admittedly limited in outlook, as for now it has to limit itself to films that came out in the first half of the year. The column also specifically disclaims reasonable discussion of the Best Foreign Film category for future columns - which makes "Parasite"'s mention all the more surprising - although perhaps unavoidable, given that the near universally acclaimed film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival by an all accounts wide margin.

Director Bong Joon-ho has been reassured by the strong positive reaction to the film. "Parasite" has also benefited from a strong domestic response to the tune of over nine million viewers. A tentative October release is planned for "Parasite" in the North American market. The movie has already broken box office records in France - the delay is most likely to insure that "Parasite" will continue to dominate awards discussion late in the year when there will be more well known competition.

- William Schwartz

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"Parasite" is directed by Bong Joon-ho, and features Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Wooshik, Park So-dam, Lee Jung-eun. Release date in Korea: 2019/05/30.