The Assassin(s) opens Singapore festival despite withdrawal pressure
Hur Jin-ho’s political thriller The Assassin(s) opened the Singapore International Film Festival on 21 October despite calls from South Korea’s opposition to withdraw it. Festival chair Boo Junfeng defended the independent selection and the policy of screening films without cuts. The dispute concerns a dramatic interpretation of the 1974 shooting that killed the wife of then-president Park Chung-hee.
Arts··Morning
Festival backs its opening film
Hur Jin-ho’s The Assassin(s) opened the Singapore International Film Festival on 21 October despite calls to withdraw the political thriller. The South Korean director thanked the festival for defending freedom of expression.[1], [2]
The gala took place at the Sands Theatre in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. Festival chair and filmmaker Boo Junfeng said organisers had received pressure to cancel the screening as well as messages of support. He defended the film’s selection as an artistic interpretation of historical events.[1]
A withdrawal request preceded the gala
South Korea’s opposition People Power Party wrote to festival executive director Jeremy Chua on 6 October on behalf of its 109 lawmakers, requesting the film’s removal. The festival replied the next day that its independent curatorial process had chosen the work for its artistic merit and contribution to contemporary Asian cinema. Boo reiterated the festival’s policy of screening films without cuts.[1]
The thriller returns to a 1974 shooting
The film revisits the shooting that killed Yuk Young-soo, wife of then-president Park Chung-hee, at South Korea’s National Theater in 1974. Its producers said on 28 September that the film named no specific instigator and did not present dramatic hypotheses as historical fact. It opened in South Korea on 23 September. The Singapore festival’s 37th edition continues through 1 November.[1]
