Finecut Closes a Global Wave of Deals Ahead of Toronto, Led by Hong Sangsoo's Locarno Winner
Korean sales company Finecut has closed international deals across six territories for Hong Sangsoo's "Nowhere to Lay My Eyes" and secured pre-sales and pickups for two more festival titles, all ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival, according to Variety.
"Nowhere to Lay My Eyes," Hong's 35th feature, landed buyers in North America (Cinema Guild), the U.K. (Institute of Contemporary Arts), Spain (Atalante), China (Hugoeast), Austria (Filmgarten) and Taiwan (Cola Films). The North American deal with Cinema Guild was first reported in July, ahead of the film's world premiere at the 79th Locarno Film Festival in August (Screen Daily). At Locarno, the film competed in the Concorso Internazionale and won three prizes: the Pardo for Best Direction, the Pardo for Best Performance, and the Ecumenical Jury Prize (Variety).
The film follows a woman who, after ten years apart, visits her mother with her brother and spends two days with her mother's new family. Kim Minhee, a regular presence in Hong's work, stars alongside Choi Myeonggil and Kwon Haehyo. Variety's review praised Kim's "richly expressive minimalism" (Variety). The film is also set for its North American premiere at the 2026 New York Film Festival, which announced its lineup in early August (Variety).
Finecut's Toronto slate extends well beyond a single title. "Long Long Night," a 3D animated feature and the directorial debut of Youm Kyu Bock, was pre-sold to Japan's Geek Pictures Inc. ahead of its world premiere in Toronto's Centrepiece selection. The film adapts a bestselling Korean novel, based on a true story, that has sold more than 800,000 copies and was named to the International Youth Library's 2021 White Ravens list in Munich. Kosano Tamotsu, CEO of Geek Pictures, pointed to the bond between the last rhino on Earth and a penguin, and the film's message of living for someone else, as what drew him in. After Toronto, "Long Long Night" moves to the Busan International Film Festival's competition lineup and then to the Sitges Film Festival's Anima't section (Variety).
July Jung's "Dora" rounds out the three closed deals. The film, Jung's third feature, premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes — making Jung the first Korean female director to have three consecutive features selected for the festival. "Dora" pairs rising Korean actress Kim Doyeon in the title role with Japanese actress Ando Sakura, known for "Godzilla Minus One," "Monster" and the Palme d'Or winner "Shoplifters." Finecut sold it to Japan's Geek Pictures Inc. and Taiwan's Light Year Images. Busan has also selected it for a Gala presentation (Variety).
During Toronto, Finecut will introduce two further titles to buyers: "Guardians of the Video Game," an animated adventure based on a webtoon with 345 million views worldwide, and "Wash Away," a Japanese horror-thriller about a couple whose lakeside retreat turns sinister. "Wash Away" is the feature debut of Miyahara, whose short film "Suck" was selected for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival; it premieres in the Sitges Film Festival's Panorama section (Variety).
For a sales outfit working the festival corridor, that is a full pipeline: a decorated auteur title with distribution locked across three continents, an animated debut riding a proven literary property, and a Cannes-launched drama with crossover casting. Two more projects entering the market round out the bench.
