'Concrete Utopia' invited to compete at Sitges Film Festival

The upcoming film “Concrete Utopia” starring actor Lee Byung-hun has been invited to the Òrbita competition section of the Sitges Film Festival, the film’s distributor Lotte Entertainment said Friday. The Spanish film festival, which ...

Poster for the upcoming film, ″Concrete Utopia,″ starring actor Lee Byung-hun [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

The upcoming film “Concrete Utopia” starring actor Lee Byung-hun has been invited to the Òrbita competition section of the Sitges Film Festival, the film’s distributor Lotte Entertainment said Friday.

The Spanish film festival, which specializes in fantasy, thriller and horror films, will be held in Sitges, Catalonia, on Oct. 5 to 15 this year.

The Òrbita section features films “from genres bordering on the fantastic, such as thrillers, suspense, martial arts, action, adventure, etc.,” according to the festival’s website. The winners are chosen solely by votes submitted by the audience.

Multiple Korean films over the years have been invited to the festival, from "Oldboy" (2003) and "Lady Vengeance" (2005) by director Park Chan-wook, to Bong Joon-ho's "The Host" (2006) and "Hunt" (2022), the latter being directed by and starring actor Lee Jung-jae.

“Concrete Utopia” was also nominated in the Hawaii International Film Festival’s Spotlight On Korea category.

Directed by Um Tae-hwa, the film is set around Seoul, recently devastated by a large-scale earthquake. Revolving around the only apartment that survived the earthquake, the film stars renowned actors Park Seo-jun, Park Bo-young, Lee and more.

The film is set to be released on Aug. 9.

To find out more about "Concrete Utopia," visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]