BY MICHAEL ROSSER

South Korean sales agency Finecut has closed a raft of distribution deals on Hong Sangsoo’s A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert, and upcoming horror-thriller Noise.

A Traveler’s Needs premiered in Competition at the Berlinale in February, winning the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, and was recently acquired for North America by Cinema Guild.

The film has now been picked up for Italy (Minerva Pictures), Spain (L’Atalante Cinema), Austria (Filmgarten), CIS (A-ONE Film), Greece and Cyprus (Ama Films), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Baltics (A-ONE Films Baltic). In Asia, it has been acquired for Japan (Mimosa Films), Taiwan (Cola Films) and Indonesia (PT Falcon) while Providence Filmes has taken rights for Brazil.

Huppert plays a woman in Korea who becomes a French teacher for two women after finding herself with no money or means of supporting herself, drinking makkeolli (Korean rice wine) for daily comfort.

It marks the third collaboration between French actress Huppert and Korean filmmaker Hong after In Another Country, which played in Competition at Cannes 2012, and Claire’s Camera, which was shown in the Special Screenings section of Cannes in 2017.

Finecut has also secured deals for Korean feature Noise, which launched at the European Film Market (EFM) and marks the feature directorial debut of Kim Soo-jin.

The film has been acquired for France (KMBO), CIS (Red Castle Group), Indonesia (PT Prima Cinema Multimedia) and Thailand (Iris Cinema Thailand).

The film centres on a woman with a hearing aid, played by Lee Sun-bin (Mission: Possible), who is haunted by inexplicable sounds linked to her sister’s disappearance in her own apartment, attracting a malevolent presence. The film is in post-production and a promo will be shown to buyers at the upcoming Cannes market.