Hong Sangsoo’s Nowhere to Lay My Eyes selected for Locarno

Finecut said on July 10 that Hong Sangsoo’s 35th feature, Nowhere to Lay My Eyes, was formally invited to the international competition of the 79th Locarno Film Festival after the selection was announced on July 9 local time. The overseas distributor said the invitation marks Hong’s fifth appearance at the festival.

The report said Hong’s previous Locarno entries include Our Sunhi, which received the Best Director award in 2013, and Right Now, Wrong Then, which received the Golden Leopard and an acting award in 2015. It also cited Hotel by the River, which received an acting award in 2018, and Suyoocheon, which received an acting award in 2024.

The Locarno Film Festival said in its invitation note that it was 'deeply moved by how, through the film’s poetic expression and refined technique, every image, word and encounter conveys the meaning and beauty of life in an unforced way.' The festival also said the film 'once again showed why Hong Sangsoo is one of the great masters of our time.'

According to the report, the new film features performers who have appeared in Hong’s works, including Kim Minhee, Kwon Haehyo, Shin Seokho and Park Miso. It said veteran actor Choi Myeonggil joined a Hong film for the first time.

The report described Locarno, founded in 1946 and holding its 79th edition this year, as one of the world’s oldest film festivals alongside Berlin, Cannes and Venice. It said the festival has maintained a tradition of placing weight on artistic experimentation and auteur cinema rather than commercial appeal.

Nowhere to Lay My Eyes will be shown as a world premiere at the festival, which is scheduled to run from August 5 to 15 in Locarno, Switzerland, according to the report. The film is also scheduled for a domestic release in the second half of this year after the festival schedule.

Through the film’s poetic expression and refined technique, every image, word and encounter conveys the meaning and beauty of life in an unforced way.

The film once again showed why Hong Sangsoo is one of the great masters of our time.