Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho has managed to bag South Korea its first ever Oscar nomination for Parasite, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May 2019.
In fact, it's had several nods ahead of this year's ceremony, having been nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay AND Best Film Not in the English Language.
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Responding to the historic nomination, Bong has said he's over the moon, remaining humble with fears that he'll wake up to realise it was just one big fantasy.
Speaking to Deadline through his translator and filmmaker Sharon Choi, he said: "I feel it's like Inception.
"Soon I'm going to wake up and realise this was all a dream, I'm still in the middle of Parasite and all the equipment is malfunctioning. I see the catering truck on fire and I'm wailing.
"But right now, everything is great and I'm so happy."
The psychological thriller - which was released in South Korea in May 2019 and will be released in the UK on 7 February - stars Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik and Park So-dam.
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It follows the Kim family, who are struggling to make ends meet while they slum it in a small basement apartment. When one of them finds work with the much wealthier Park family as a tutor, the rest of the family decide to de-camp and infiltrate the Parks' home. Needless to say, that does not go too well for them.
Bong, who has also directed the likes of 2017 Netflix movie Okja, announced that he would soon be adapting the film into an HBO series with Adam McKay - who tweeted back in August to say how much he loved Parasite.
It seemed the praise was mutual, with Bong telling Deadline: "I really liked Adam McKay's The Big Short and I loved his sense of humour, and the sharp satire he conveyed about the current American politics.
"With Parasite, while I was writing the script I had so many more ideas I couldn't convey into the two-hour running time of the film. I knew that if I had a longer running time, I would be able to tell these stories, and I that's what I plan to talk about with Adam pretty soon."
Along with Parasite, here are the big hitters from the 2020 Academy Award nominations:
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Best Picture - Ford v Ferrari/Le Mans '66, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, Parasite
Best Director - Martin Scorsese for The Irishman, Todd Phillips for Joker, Sam Mendes for 1917, Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, Bong Joon-ho for Parasite.
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Cynthia Erivo for Harriet, Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story, Saoirse Ronan for Little Women, Charlize Theron for Bombshell, Renée Zellweger for Judy.
Actor in a Supporting Role - Tom Hanks for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Anthony Hopkins for The Two Popes, Al Pacino for The Irishman, Joe Pesci for The Irishman, Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.
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Actress in a Supporting Role - Kathy Bates for Richard Jewell, Laura Dern for Marriage Story, Scarlett Johannson for Jojo Rabbit, Florence Pugh for Little Women, Margot Robbie for Bombshell.
Featured Image Credit: CJ Entertainment
Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Oscars