The Panorama program at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, Ranking with Hot Films

The film The Apartment with Two Women has been officially invited to the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival (Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), which will be held in February 2022. The film is a graduation work from Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), and it is the first time in six years that a film produced by KAFA will go to the Berlin Film Festival since Director Lee Jaeyong's The Bacchus Lady in 2016. Also, The Apartment with Two Women was supported by Korean Film Council’s entry.

On December 16, Finecut Co., Ltd., a film overseas sales company, announced, "Director Kim Sein's The Apartment with Two Women, a graduation work from the 14th feature program of KAFA, was officially invited to the Panorama program at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival." The Berlin International Film Festival that began in 1951 is one of the world's top three film festivals, and the Panorama program is a non-competitive section. It invites and screens various popular films with outstanding quality from around the world. The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival is scheduled to be held in Berlin, Germany, from February 10 to 20, 2022.

The Apartment with Two Women, produced in the feature film program at KAFA, deals with the question of ‘What is family?’ through conflicts between a mother and a daughter. The film enjoyed the joy of winning five awards at the 26th Busan International Film Festival, which ended on October 15, winning the New Currents Award, the KB New Currents Audience Award, the NETPEC Award, the Watcha Award, and Actor Lim Jiho, the main character of the film, won the Actress of the Year Award.

Despite the 140-minute running time at the Busan International Film Festival, the film received enthusiastic responses from the audience for its immersive screenplay and directing. Christina Nord, a judge of New Currents Award at the BIFF and the chairman of the Berlin International Film Festival Forum, extolled, "The mother-daughter relationship in the film was very specific in the world created by the director, and sometimes I stopped breathing while watching the outstanding acting of the two leading stars."

Director Kim Sein, who succeeded in advancing to the Berlin International Film Festival this time, graduated from KAFA last year as the 14th class of the feature film program. Regarding the entry into the film festival, Director Kim said, "KAFA created a stable environment where I could focus only on the film from the scenario writing process to the second half work. I'm so thrilled to share the good news with the actors, the staff, and KAFA." Cho Geunsik, president of KAFA, said, "This entry into the film festival proved to the world that KAFA is an educational institution that produces high-quality films through practical classes and training. We will try our best to make KAFA the cradle of Korean films that will be internationally recognized beyond Korea."

Meanwhile, KAFA has consistently made headlines at the Berlin International Film Festival. Starting with Director Baek Seungbin (22nd regular class) and his film Members of the Funeral in 2009, three films, including Director So Sangmin's (22nd regular class) I am in Trouble! and Director Ryu Hyungki's (22nd regular class), Our Fantastic 21st Century, were submitted to the Berlin International Film Festival Forum. In 2016, The Bacchus Lady, co-produced by Director Lee Jaeyong (7th regular class) and KAFA, entered the Panorama program of the Berlin International Film Festival.

Since 2007, KAFA has been running a ‘feature film course, where research students produce and release feature films themselves, and in addition to The Apartment with Two Women, Bleak Night (Director Yoon Sunghyun, 3rd feature course), Alice in Earnestland (Director Ahn Goocjin, 7th feature course), and Social Phobia (Director Hong Seokjae, 7th feature course), Baseball Girl (Director Choi Yuntae, 12th feature course), and Aloners (Director Hong Sungeun, 13th feature course), etc. were invited to many film festivals home and abroad and won awards.