According to the program preview released on the Korean SBS website, the TV series "Flower" will premiere on the SBS F!L UHD channel at 22:00 on July 7, and will be broadcast on multiple Korean cable, broadband and streaming platforms starting from July 8.
"F!L UHD" is the ultra-high-definition channel of South Korea's SBS, which often broadcasts Chinese TV series. It is currently broadcasting "Detective Dee's Cases in the Tang Dynasty" starring Zhou Yiwei.
According to the news released by SBS at the end of June, SBS's "Studio S" will be responsible for the introduction and distribution of "Fang Hua" in South Korea. They specifically mentioned that in the Korean trailer of "Fang Hua", Wong Kar-wai specially used the famous song "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker, the king of American rock and dance music, to let Korean audiences feel the director's unique sensibility and originality in advance.
Since works such as "In the Mood for Love", "Chungking Express" and "Happy Together" are well-known in South Korea, the Korean distributor focused on Wong Kar-wai in this marketing and promoted this as his first TV series.
The article said that Wong Kar-wai was born in Shanghai and grew up in Hong Kong, so he has always had a special feeling for his hometown Shanghai. In 2014, he purchased the copyright of "Fang Hua". After 7 years of preparation and 3 years of shooting, it was finally broadcast in China at the end of 2023.
The plot is about a period drama in Shanghai, China in the 1990s, during the period of reform and opening up, in which the young man Abao (Hu Ge) plunges into the world of capital and grows into a millionaire. The work depicts the intricate relationship between Abao and three women, Lingzi (Ma Yili), Miss Wang (Tang Yan), and Li Li (Xin Zhilei), showing their dramatic life stories intertwined in love, ambition and loneliness.
The press release specifically mentioned that in October 2024, at the 29th Busan International Film Festival Asian Content Awards and Global Streaming Awards ceremony, "Fang Hua" won the Best Drama Award, and Hu Ge won the Best Actor Award for his outstanding performance in the drama.
In addition to South Korea, "Flowers" will also be broadcast on different platforms around the world. On June 19 this year, "Flowers" confirmed that the North American distribution will be on Criterion Channel, which is the largest and most professional art film broadcasting platform in North America. In addition, "Flowers" has been locked in the distribution rights by MUBI, a copyright agency focusing on art films, on distribution platforms in Europe and Latin America. According to the plan, "Flowers" will be broadcast in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Brazil and India.
In addition, in June 2024, "Fang Hua" was broadcast in Hong Kong and Taiwan, China. Both places provided both Mandarin and Shanghainese channels for local audiences to choose from.
