SEOUL/SINGAPORE – South Korean film Persona: Sulli, featuring late South Korean singer-actress Sulli, will be released in the last quarter of 2023, according to production company Mystic Story.
It unveiled the film’s main poster on Wednesday, showing the star – dressed in a red off-shoulder outfit – looking downwards.
Sulli, who debuted as a child actress in 2005, joined K-pop girl group f(x) in 2009. She took her own life in October 2019 at the age of 25.
She had suffered from severe depression, as she had long been the target of online vitriol for defying social norms – from posting braless photos of herself to being candid about her romantic relationship to live-streaming a drinking session with friends.
The first of the two-part film is a short film called 4: Clean Island by directors Hwang Soo-ah and Kim Jee-hye.
It revolves around a character named 4 (played by Sulli), who dreams of emigrating to the cleanest place in the world, Clean Island. To pass through the island’s immigration checkpoint, she needs to confess a sin, which involves a story about a special pig.
The second part of the film is the documentary Dear Jinri, helmed by director Jung Yoon-suk and titled after Sulli’s real name, Choi Jin-ri. It conveys her diverse concerns and thoughts via interviews.
Dear Jinri will have its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, which kicks off on Oct 4.
A Mystic Story spokesman said: “We wanted to show the public that Choi Jin-ri was a good actress and a good person through Persona: Sulli.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese-language comedy-drama Fat Hope, starring late Taiwanese singer-actor-host Alien Huang, will open in Singapore cinemas on Feb 8, 2024, after its release was delayed several times.
The 36-year-old celebrity was found dead in his Taipei home on Sept 16, 2020. He died of an aortic dissection, which led to a blockage of his blood vessels.
The film’s local director Joyce Lee (Young & Fabulous, 2016) said in a press release: “It’s not an easy journey and I’m sorry to keep all of you waiting. After experiencing the pandemic, Alien Huang’s accident and severe production challenges, Fat Hope is finally scheduled to be officially released in Singapore during next year’s Chinese New Year period.”
Shot in 2018, Fat Hope tells the story of a snobbish model (Taiwanese actress Lin Yu-pin) who becomes obese overnight due to a curse and turns to her love interest (Huang) for support.
The cast also includes home-grown artistes such as Liu Lingling, Quan Yifeng, Henry Thia and Wang Lei. The movie’s teaser trailer will be released on Sept 16, Huang’s death anniversary, in remembrance of him. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
