Director Bong Joon Ho and Parasite are certainly making history.

Fresh from winning the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture, Parasite is one of the movies the industry is talking about. It has six Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture, Best International Film and Best Directing for Boon Joon Ho.

Santa Barbara International Film Festival honored director Boon Joon Ho with an Outstanding Director of the Year Award at the historic Arlington Theatre in Downtown Santa Barbara.

The director was honored with an all-day celebration that included screenings of Memories of Murder, The Host, Mother, and Parasite.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg sat down for a one-on-one discussion with the director and interpreter Sharon Choi about his career.

He addressed the possibility of Parasite expanded into the small screen.

“The TV series with HBO and Adam McKay is something that I’ve been thinking of for a long time since I started writing the script. I had all these ideas accumulated about the characters and the hidden backstories that I couldn’t include in the two-hour running time of the film, so I just want to spread them all out through this limited series. More than being a TV show. I really think of it as a six-hour expanded film,” he said.

Parasite is also one of the most successful foreign films at the U.S. box office and earned high praise from critics. As of today, the film has generated almost $29 million in the domestic box office after opening nearly $400,000 on October 11 last year. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 96 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

He told the audience, “I didn’t anticipate it all. I never imagined that I would be here with an audience in Santa Barbara. I just shot the film as I’ve always done with my previous works. But last March when I completed the film, I did realize that I had little regrets with Parasite. Whenever I finish a film, I’m always entangled in all these regrets, but relatively I didn’t have as many. But obviously, everything that happened since Cannes to now the [Academy Awards] and right now in Santa Barbara. I never imagined any of this. It is all very new and surprising.”

Actress Jeong-eun Lee, who portrayed the housekeeper in Parasite, presented the award to the Korean director.

She said, “Director Bong has been a strange but exciting person to work with. He really takes me on fantastic adventures as an actress. It is refreshing and exciting to do the unpredictable with Director Bong. He is the type of direct that remembers everyone’s names on the set, even the [production assistants]. On behalf of the cast and crew, thank you for the opportunity to be a part of such a beautiful masterpiece.

LRM Online was on the red carpet to interview director Bong Joon Ho and actress Jeong-eun Lee. We also interviewed director James Latimer for short doc film Lady Samurai before the tribute event.

For more information about the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, visit the festival’s web site by clicking here.

Check out the exclusive interviews below.

Director Bong Joon-Ho Red Carpet Interview

Actress Jeong-eun Lee Red Carpet Interview

Director James Latimer Red Carpet Interview

Short documentary Lady Samurai is about Kaori Kawabuchi, a samurai sword performer, singer, and motion capture actor. She keeps the ancient Japanese traditions alive.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive