An Australian journalist has faced widespread online criticism following an awkward incident during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival for director Na Hong-jin's upcoming film, Hope. The panel featured an international cast, including Korean stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon, Hollywood couple Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, and Canadian actress Taylor Russell, who is of Jamaican heritage.
Throughout the press conference, name placards for each guest were clearly displayed on the table. However, in footage now circulating widely on social media, the journalist addressed only Fassbender and Vikander by name before telling the rest of the panel: 'I don't know the rest of you.' The comment instantly created an uncomfortable atmosphere in the room.
Video from the event showed Jung Ho-yeon and Russell exchanging glances as the questioning continued, while several other cast members remained visibly unimpressed. The journalist then shifted focus to Fassbender and Vikander's real-life marriage, asking whether the pair had effectively been hired together as a 'package'. 'Two actors for the price of one maybe, or?' the journalist asked. Director Na quickly rejected the suggestion, explaining that the production team had separately approached both actors before casting them in the film.
The tense interaction has since gone viral online, with many social media users criticising the moment as rude, unprofessional, and offensive. 'There could've been so many different ways to have phrased that to be inclusive and not only did she just choose to refer to the two white leads, but felt the need to add on 'I don't know the rest of you'?!?' one user wrote on Instagram. 'What a shamefully offensive question,' another agreed, as a third user wrote: 'Cannes should ban journalist like this.'
Yet another user weighed in: 'If you are working in a professional environment, personal familiarity should NOT dictate your behaviour in front of an international cast and crew. Your job is to treat all guests with equal courtesy.' 'Her asking the director a question and not knowing his f**king name is ridiculous,' someone else chimed in.
Set in a remote South Korean town under attack from mysterious extraterrestrials, Hope earned a six-minute standing ovation at its Cannes debut. The plot follows residents of a remote harbour town as they face a mysterious, non-human threat after all communications are cut off. The film's synopsis says: 'In Hope Harbor, a remote village near the Demilitarized Zone, police chief Bum-seok (played by Hwang) receives alarming news from local youths that a tiger has appeared. As the village erupts into panic, Bum-seok is forced to confront a reality beyond belief.' The film marks director Na's fourth return to Cannes Film Festival, following The Wailing in 2016, the crime-thriller The Yellow Sea in 2011, and his thriller The Chaser in 2008.
