The Director Of ‘Portrait Of A Lady On Fire’ Shares The Text She Sent To Bong Joon Ho

One of the best films of 2019 is finally out in theaters. Let me explain.

After premiering at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Screenplay, Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire — the “haunting, ethereal slow burn of a love story” starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel — received a limited release last December. As in, “two theaters in New York and Los Angeles to qualify for the Oscars” limited. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the cut: France’s submission for Best International Feature was Les Misérables, and while it’s a good movie, it’s no Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Sciamma wasn’t upset about the snub, though. She was too busy texting Bong Joon Ho.

Parasite, which took home Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards, and Portrait share the same distributor in the United States, Neon. So when Parasite won Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Sciamma reached out to director Bong. “I texted: ‘I feel like I won, too’ because we’re on the same team,” she told the Guardian. “I have nothing to do with [Parasite’s awards season wins], but it’s a win for an idea of cinema we share.”

Speaking of Neon, here’s how they responded to Trump blasting Parasite:

— NEON (@neonrated) February 21, 2020

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is out in theaters now. See it while the kids are watching Sonic.