From K-pop to film soundtracks: with Parasite and Minari’s Oscar nominations for best original score, Korean artists are working on new films like Children Are Happy and more

May 17 , 2021

Lee Jin-ah, Exo’s Chanyeol and Sunwoo Jung-a. Photo: @jinahoho; @real__pcy; @sunwoojuna_official/Instagram

Ecobridge worked on another recent film, The Box, starring Exo’s Chanyeol, rearranging Pharrell Williams’ Happy and Coldplay’s A Sky Full of Stars

Lee Jin-ah wrote music for Lee Ji-won’s new release Children Are Happy while filmmaker Yoon Sung-hyun had rapper Primary work on for Time to Hunt

With films Parasite and Minari earning best original score nominations at the last two Academy Awards – alongside Youn Yuh-jung’s first ever supporting actress Oscar for a Korean performer, also for Minari – a number of K-pop artists are now making a foray into film scoring and helping directors devise musical strategies for their films, buoyed by the Oscar recognition.

Singer-songwriter Lee Jin-ah debuted as a music director, composing the background score for the film Children Are Happy, which hit Korean cinemas on May 5.

The film revolves around a nine-year-old named Dai, whose mother is hospitalised and whose father never seems to be around. Dai is lonely, but he soon makes new friends at a school he recently transferred to.

Realising that he’ll soon have to say goodbye to his ill mother, Dai decides to visit the hospital on his own.

“I’m a real fan of Lee Jin-ah. Fortunately, she was interested in doing the soundtrack when I asked her to work on the movie,” director Lee Ji-won said at a recent press conference for the film.

Singer-songwriter Lee Jin-ah. Photo: @jinahoho/Instagram

“It was very satisfying to work with her, because I could feel her warm personality and generosity in her music. I think she really captured the spirit and emotion of the film.”