Historical film 'Harbin' invited to Toronto International Film Festival

Historical drama film “Harbin,” starring actors Hyun Bin and Park Jeong-min, has been invited to the Gala Presentations section of the 49th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and will premiere at the festival.

Poster of historical drama film ″Harbin″ [CJ ENM]

Historical drama film “Harbin,” starring actors Hyun Bin and Park Jeong-min, has been invited to the Gala Presentations section of the 49th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and will have its grand world premiere at the festival, its distributor CJ ENM said Wednesday.

"Harbin," directed by Woo Min-ho, has been invited to 49th TIFF thanks to its amazing depiction of history, according to Cameron Bailey, the chief executive officer of TIFF.

The movie follows the story of Korean independence movement activists in Harbin, China, during the 1900s when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule (1910-45).

Director Woo, who was behind films like “Inside Men” (2015) and “The Man Standing Next” (2020), took the helm of the film. The film additionally features actors Jo Woo-jin, Jeon Yeo-been and Lee Dong-wook alongside Hyun Bin and Park.

After its world premiere at TIFF, "Harbin" is scheduled to be released during the second half of this year in Korea, according to CJ ENM.

The festival previously invited Korean films such as “Smugglers” (2023), “Concrete Utopia” (2023) and “The Housemaid” (2010) to its Gala Presentations section.

TIFF will kick off on Sept. 5 and end on Sep. 15.

To find out more about Korean films, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]