IFC FILMS TAKES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO KOREAN THRILLER THE HOUSEMAID
Cannes Competition Title Was Also a Box Office Hit – 2.3 Million in Korea

New York, NY (July 20, 2010) – IFC Films, the leading American distributor of independent and foreign films, announced today that the company has acquired North American rights to Im Sang-soo’s erotic thriller THE HOUSEMAID, which made its world premiere in Competition at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. IFC plans to screen the film at key Fall film festivals and then release the film early next year.

THE HOUSEMAID is a sumptuous and erotic thriller set within the household of a beautiful and extremely wealthy family. When they hire a comely young maid to work with an older housekeeper, she is specifically assigned to cater to the spoiled and vastly pregnant wife, who will soon give birth to twins, and her agreeable young daughter. However, it’s not long before she attracts the attention of her husband and soon finds herself pregnant. It’s only when the family’s social order is disturbed that all hell breaks loose. The film is a remake of Kim Ki-young’s 1960 classic of the same name which was recently restored by Martin Scorsese.

President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “THE HOUSEMAID is one of the most sheerly entertaining and sexy thrillers we have seen in years. It establishes Im Sang-soo as a major filmmaker and reconfirms that some of the best filmmaking anywhere in the world is happening in South Korea. We couldn’t be happier that Mirovision entrusted this film to us and think it’s the perfect fit for all of our platforms.”

“We’re extremely happy to find IFC as the North American home for our film,” said Jason Chae, producer of THE HOUSEMAID and President of Mirovision. “We’ve always been impressed by IFC’s passion for Korean landmark films and this is an honorable deal. I already have a lot of confidence in IFC’s blueprint for US distribution. I believe THE HOUSEMAID can turn a new page for how a Korean movie can be received by a wider audience in the North American market.”

The deal for THE HOUSEMAID was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions & Productions, and Jeff Deutchman, Manager of Acquisitions & Productions, for IFC Films and with Jason Chae, President & Producer of Mirovision, and Erica Nam, Vice President of the International Division at Mirovision, on behalf of the filmmakers.