On August 15 in Locarno, Switzerland, Nowhere to Lay My Eyes walked away with three prizes. Hong Sangsoo took Best Direction and the Ecumenical Jury Prize. Kim Minhee took Best Performance. It is Hong’s 35th feature.
The film runs 72 minutes. It world-premiered on August 13. A Korean theatrical release is set for the second half of this year, with no date announced yet.
This was his fifth time in Locarno
Hong and this festival go back a long way. Our Sunhi won him Best Direction in 2013. Right Now, Wrong Then took the Golden Leopard, the top prize, in 2015. Jung Jae-young won Best Actor for it the same year.
Ki Joo-bong won for Hotel by the River in 2018. Kim Minhee won for By the Stream in 2024. This is Hong’s fifth official selection, and the first time one of his films has taken three awards at once.
The Ecumenical Jury Prize is not a festival prize proper. A Swiss Protestant and Catholic jury awards it independently, to films dealing with human dignity, peace and human rights.
Kim’s Best Performance award is her second at Locarno. She did not win it alone this time. She shares it with Monica Bellucci, for the Italian drama Kettice.
Jeju is in it, but the tourist island is not
The story is plain. Sang-hee travels to Jeju Island with her younger brother. They are going to see their mother for the first time in ten years.
The mother’s restaurant is doing well. The stepfather is shooting a documentary. His subject is a burial practice Koreans call chobun: the body is laid above ground rather than buried, left to decompose, and the bones are then cleaned for the funeral. He has been filming it for two years.
Locarno’s official synopsis puts it this way.
Previously unknown facts, needless advice, and cheap compliments are passed back and forth. On the morning of her departure, the other family members watch one of Sang-hee’s films.
Locarno Film Festival official synopsis
The cast is Kim Minhee, Choi Myung-gil, Kwon Hae-hyo, Shin Seok-ho and Park Mi-so. Kim plays Sang-hee, Choi the mother, Kwon the stepfather. Choi Myung-gil is a Hong first-timer, which is worth noting — Hong tends to work with the same faces for years.
One Italian critic who saw it in Locarno wrote that Hong deliberately strips Jeju of every tourist attraction. He uses the island without selling it.
People who saw it say Hong has loosened up
Festival reactions land on Letterboxd first. Critics file there within hours of the screening, well before the trade pieces run.
Alan Mattli gave it five stars and called it “Hong unchained.” His list of what gets talked about on screen: Israel’s war on Palestine, skin-colour-based Korean beauty standards, and what an AI future does to the job market. He also called it the most outwardly funny Hong film he has seen.
Another viewer transcribed this exchange.
Both sides are making documentaries. Both sides insist they’re telling the truth. I really hate that sort of brainwashing. Dramas are better. They say, I’m a scam. I’m scamming you. I prefer that.
Dialogue from the film, transcribed by Letterboxd user Ali Karimnia
Robert Daniels at RogerEbert.com gave it four stars, calling it one of Hong’s most existential works. The film keeps death and art in the same frame and worries at both.
Very few people have actually seen it. Letterboxd still says there are not enough ratings to calculate an average. Every review out there right now is from a festival screening.
The same name appears seven times in the credits
Hong directed, wrote, shot, produced, edited, scored and did the sound himself. This is not new. Most of his recent films work the same way.
Five actors, 72 minutes. The budget has not been disclosed.
Kim Minhee is credited as both lead and production manager. At the August 14 Q&A she talked about the shoot. She said she brought her child along, breastfeeding and preparing baby food between takes. It was her first public appearance since giving birth in April last year.
If you are outside Korea, the wait may be longer
Korean theatrical release is planned for the second half of 2026, date unannounced. International sales are handled by Finecut, the Seoul-based company that has sold most of Hong’s recent work.
Hong released two features this year. The 34th premiered at the Berlinale in February. This 35th one went to Locarno. Two a year is his normal pace, which is why his films rarely get wide releases anywhere.
If you follow Hong, the practical route is a festival slot this autumn or an art-house run next spring. Cinema Guild has handled several of his recent US releases, though nothing has been announced for this one.
We will update when a date lands.
Sources
- Locarno Film Festival — 79th edition palmarès
- The Korea Herald — Director Hong Sang-soo, actor Kim Min-hee win awards at Locarno film fest
- Newsis (Korean) — Hong Sang-soo’s Nowhere to Lay My Eyes takes three Locarno prizes
- RogerEbert.com — Locarno 2026: Nowhere To Lay My Eyes, At Night, Nobody’s Violence
- The Film Stage — First teaser and poster for Nowhere to Lay My Eyes
- Letterboxd — Nowhere to Lay My Eyes (official synopsis, festival reactions)
- Screen Daily — Locarno Film Festival unveils 2026 lineup
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