'Dora' Director Jung Ju-ri on the Reason for Casting Kim Do-yeon After a Long Audition Process... "Her Sincere Demeanor" [Cannes★Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

Director Jung Ju-ri spoke about the process of casting Kim Do-yeon for the film 'Dora'.

On the afternoon of the 19th, Director Jung Ju-ri held an interview at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, for 'Dora' (directed by Jung Ju-ri), an official selection of the Directors' Fortnight at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.

'Dora' tells the story of Dora (played by Kim Do-yeon), who suffers from an unknown skin condition, and her experience living with a couple, Nami (played by Ando Sakura) and Yeon-su (played by Song Se-byeok), in the countryside. There, she begins to feel emotions of happiness and love for the first time, causing their relationships and feelings to gradually waver. Director Jung Ju-ri portrays the process of two individuals, both wounded in body and mind, becoming entangled in a whirlwind of complex emotions through her signature delicate direction. The film boldly and sensually expresses the primal desires residing within a woman's inner self and the confusion she experiences during that process.

With 'Dora' joining her feature debut 'Dohee-ya' (2014, Un Certain Regard) and her second feature 'Next Sohee' (2022, Critics' Week Closing Film), Director Jung Ju-ri has now had all three of her feature films released over the past 12 years selected for the Cannes Film Festival. She is the first female director in Korean film history to have all three of her feature films selected for Cannes.

On this day, Director Jung Ju-ri said, "I was curious about how the audience would react after the first screening. I felt that they watched the film through to the end and were thinking about Dora and Nami. Although making the film was difficult for me, I felt encouraged and supported."

While this film, like her previous works, centers on women and female themes, its atmosphere and narrative approach differ significantly from her earlier films. Responding to comments that it felt "new," Director Jung Ju-ri explained, "I did not work on the film in a different way or change my approach. Since I wrote the screenplay, I worried constantly about how to ensure that the initial idea would be expressed exactly as I envisioned it during filming and completion. In my view, while the core message of my previous and current works is similar, the stories themselves are different, so I aimed to express each story in a way that suited it."

The director added, "One difference is that nature was as important as the characters this time. I put a lot of effort into capturing the vibrant atmosphere of forests and seas, which can be frightening and unpredictable, especially from childhood."

'Dora' is an adaptation that brings Sigmund Freud's 1900 case study of Dora to modern-day Korea. When asked why she chose Freud's Dora, Director Jung Ju-ri stated, "Freud believed that Dora was lying and hiding things from him, never truly listening to her words. Because he did not hear her voice in its entirety, that case study could not succeed. I created this film with the hope that Dora, who begins in a vulnerable and wounded state, would not remain stuck in that failed case but would instead rise again, fully recover, and stand as a complete being. I believe that if this becomes a clear case study, it will show that the power enabling this recovery is the love residing within Dora. The love for Nami gradually helps Dora recover, eventually allowing her to channel that energy into action."

Explaining the process of casting Kim Do-yeon as Dora, the director said, "After a very long audition process, we finally made the selection. However, the image I initially imagined was completely different. Just by appearance, I thought of someone weak, small, and visibly vulnerable. Of course, there were good actors with that kind of feel, but during the auditions, I saw Kim Do-yeon portraying Dora after her recovery. She endured the entire process silently, and I felt a sense of steadfastness. I thought she could express the firm image of Dora at the end."

Director Jung Ju-ri also discussed the casting of Ando Sakura. She said, "This project has been in development for a long time. Initially, the role of Nami was obviously intended for a Korean actress. However, as we prepared for a long time, I kept feeling that something wasn't quite right, and the biggest issue was Nami. At some point, I wondered how I could possibly understand the depth of Nami's emptiness, loneliness, and sorrow so perfectly. I realized there might be areas I couldn't fully grasp. Then I thought, 'What if Nami were Japanese instead of Korean?' Before the casting process even concluded, the name 'Ando Sakura' came to mind." She continued, "I told Ando Sakura the same thing: 'I cannot fully understand Nami either. Nami seems to be a character existing between me and Ando.' I quickly had the screenplay translated into Japanese and sent it to her. She absorbed the entire film beautifully, and her thoughts on Nami matched my own. I was deeply moved during our first meeting. Actually meeting the actress felt like Nami was standing right before my eyes."

Meanwhile, 'Dora', which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, is scheduled for release in South Korea in the second half of this year.

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*This content was translated by AI.