[Anchor]
The team behind Oscar-winning South Korean blockbuster "Parasite," including director Bong Joon-ho, has revealed their journey to win the world's most prestigious film awards.
A news conference was held in downtown Seoul today with hundreds of journalists in attendance, underscoring the film's ongoing popularity.
Meeyeon Ahn reports.
[Reporter]
Director Bong described the six-month long Oscar campaign as fighting a guerrilla war because the "Parasite" team had to promote the film with a lower budget compared to other big-name studios and Netflix.
[Clip: Bong: 00:28]
"Actor Song Kang-ho and I did more than 600 interviews with the press and held talks with moviegoers over 100 times during the Oscar journey. When other films appeared on gigantic ads in downtown LA and magazine covers, we worked hard to utilize online viral marketing and good teamwork to make up for our limited budget."
Bong also revealed that Hollywood veteran Martin Scorsese told him in a letter that he is waiting to see the South Korean director's next film.
When Bong described the contents of the letter he received this morning, he said Scorsese told him to take a break but not too long.
Asked about his future projects, he said he is preparing two films, one in Korean and the other in English.
Regarding the ongoing popularity of "Parasite" around the world, Bong said he was delighted that the film is being well received and also thanked the stars of the film.
[Clip: Bong: 00:21]
"My film is partly a comedy, but it also has bitterness and discomfort due to the class disparity between the rich and poor. I'm so delighted that movie fans in South Korea, Europe and North America liked my film this much, regardless of the awards."
Putting the Oscar winning glory behind them, Bong and the "Parasite" team said it's now time for them to get back to their real jobs, and promised to come back with new projects, raising hope for further exposure of South Korean cinema on the global stage.
Meeyeon Ahn, eFM News.■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
