The Samsung Korea Film Fest Begins
Florence March 31 to April 10 the fourth edition of the South Korean Cinematography festival in Italy
Florence - Return to the Korea Film Fest, the traditional spring appointment with South Korean cinematography, coming together this year for it's fourth edition. The Festival, strengthened by renewed collaboration with Samsung Electronics Italia, will assume, for the 2006 edition, the name 'Samsung Korea Film Fest' (www.koreafilmfest.com Open the link ). The Festival - organized by artistic director Riccardo Gelli, president of the association 'Taegukgi' - Exchange of Tuscan and Korean Cultures, in collaboration with Stensen Cinema - will take place in Florence from march 31 to april 10 in three halls: Auditorium Stensen (march 31-april 6), Alfieri Atelier (april 6-9), Cineteca di Firenze (april 10). Among the main viewings and contemporary classics, the festival, the only of it's type in all of Italy, will offer another 20 films, 30 short films, a span of target South Korean cultural proposals and 3 retrospectives from the principle teachers of Korean Cinematography, Park Chan-wook, Kim Ji-woon and Song Il-gon. Kim Ji-woon and Song Il-gon will be present at the festival.
In one of the not-to-be-missed retrospectives, there will be a film proposal about the "cursed" director Park Chan-Wook - of the uncertain and dark films that began his career, from The Moon is
The Sun's Dream (1992) and Trio (1997) to the surprising political mystery JSA - Joint Security Area, a success that became at once one of the classics of contemporary production. The retrospective will also discuss the great success of the extreme Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the film that profoundly divided the Korean public but became a cult classic presented in numerous international festivals. It is the first chapter in a seductive trilogy about vendetta, full of unexpected surprises, called Old Boy, that in 2004 won the Gran Premio della Giuria (Grand Prize of the Jury) at the Festival di Cannes, and for Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, from the concourse at the 62nd Mostra del Cinema di Venezia.
The retrospective for Kim Ji-woon will start from the debùts of 1998 with the black commedy The Quiet Family and, through her second full-length film, The Foul King, and the film Coming Out, will propose the celebrated collective horror project Three, for which Ji-woon created the episode Memories. Don't miss the two films that were affirmed in the international panorama: A Tale of Two Sisters and the noir A Bittersweet Life, outdoor concourse at the 58th Festival di Cannes.
Also rich and detailed is the retrospective for Song Il-gon, which will relate the journey from the first short films composed during his studies at the national school of Polish cinema in Lodz (The dream of the clowns and Liver and Potato), and end at the short film that won the Gran Premio della Giuria (Grand Prize of the Jury) at the 52nd Festival di Cannes, The Picnic. Among the other titles are the fascinating debùts of the full-length film, Flower Island (2001), and Spider Forest or Feathers in the wind (2004).
The Festival will also offer films by other Korean directors such as President's Last Bang by Lim Sang-soo, My Mother, the Mermaid by Park Heung-sik, She's on Duty by Park Gwong-choon, The Scarlet Letter by Daniel Byeon Hyeok and Innocent Steps by Park Yeong-hoon.
Cinema is not all that is offered at the Samsung Korea Film Fest. In fact, through exhibitions, discussions and folklore, the festival aspires to also be an occasion where one can be emersed in the seductive Korean universe, in it's fascinating stories and in it's culture. Further developing the exposition is the work of photographic artist Kim Gyoo-sik with an evocative display of the Palagio di Parte Guelfa, an homage, in the exposition space of the 'Auditorium Stensen', and also Nam-jun Paik, the great Korean artist who passed away on January 29 this year. Universally considered to be the father of video art, Park had conducted
15 years worth of research in his field of study - the exploration of the artistic potential of new instruments of technology. The strength of his artistic research was characterized by his capacity to fuse western culture and oriental zen, aesthetic pop and avante-guard expression. In other words, his profound understanding of the new technological society - and his expression of the "information superhighway" - transformed the prototype of the artist in the electronic era, influencing entire generations of media artists. The exhibition is organized by Istituto Stensen in collaboration with Museo Leonardiano di Vince and l'Associazione Arte Continua (Association for Art Continuation).
Also part of the consolidate partnership with Samsung Electronics Italia, the Festival is made possibile by the collaboration of Korean Air, Consiglio Regionale della Toscana, Assessorati alle Relazioni Internazionali and by the Cultura del Comune di Firenze, Assessorato alla Cultura della Provincia di Firenze, KOFIC-Korean Film Council, Ambasciata d'Italia a Seoul and Centro di cultura italiano di Seoul.
Cinema Auditorium Stensen:
Viale Don Minzoni 25/c - Firenze
Friday 31 Marzo 2006
9:00 pm Inauguration
The president's last Bang by Lim Sang-soo (2005, 104min)
The inauguration is by invitation
Saturday 1 April 2006
3:30 pm My mother, the mermaid
by Park Heung Shik (2004, 110min) - First national showing
5:30 pm The Foul King
by Kim Ji-woon (1999, 112min) - First national showing
7:30 pm The judgement
by Park Chan-wook (1999, 26min) - First national showing
8:30 pm Spider Forest
by Song Il-gon (2004, 118min) - First national showing
10:40 pm JSA - Joint Security Area
by Park Chan-wook (2000, 110min)
Sunday 2 April 2006
3:30 pm Feathers in the Wind
by Song Il-gon (2004, 80min)
5:30 pm The Moon is the Sun's Dream
by Park Chan-wook (1992, 103min) - First national showing
7:30 pm Coming out
by Kim Ji-woon (2000, 45min) - First national showing
8:30 pm The Quiet Family
by Kim Ji-woon (1998, 103min) - First national showing
10:40 pm Three Extremes
by Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook, Takashi Miike (2004, 125min) - First national showing
Monday 3 April 2006
5:30 pm The Scarlet Letter
by Byeon Hyeok (2004, 115min) - First national showing
7:30 pm "Picnic"
by Song Il-gon (1999, 18min) - First national showing
The dream of the clown
By Song Il-gon (1996, 8min) - First national showing
8:30 pm Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
by Park Chan-wook (2002, 121min) - First national showing
10:40 pm Trio
by Park Chan-wook (1997, 102min) - First national showing
Tuesday 4 April 2006
5:30 pm Flower Island
by Song Il-gon (2001, 119min)
7:30 pm Liver and potato
by Song Il-gon (1998, 20min) - First national showing
Flush by Song Il-gon (2000, 1min) - First national showing
8:30 pm Old Boy
by Park Chan-wook (2003, 119min)
10:40 pm The Scarlet Letter - replica
by Byeon Hyeok (2004, 115min)
Wednesday 5 April 2006
5:30 pm She's on Duty
by Park Gwong-choon (2005, 111min) - First national showing
7:30 pm Memories
by Kim Ji-woon (2002, 39min)
8:30 pm Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
by Park Chan-wook (2005, 112min)
10:40 pm If You were Me
by Park Chan-wook (2003, 110min) - First national showing
Thursday 6 April 2006
5:30 pm JSA - Joint Security Area - replica
by Park Chan-wook (2000, 110min)
8:30 pm A BitterSweet Life
by Kim Ji-woon (2005, 120min)
10:40 pm A Tale of Two sister
by Kim Ji-woon (2003, 115min)
Cinema Alfieri Atelier:
Via dell'Ulivo 8 - Firenze
Friday 7 April 2006
5:30 pm - Flower Island – replica
by Song Il-gon (2001, 119min)
8:30 pm - Magician(s) (The Magicians)
by Song Il-gon (2005, 92min) - First national showing
10:40 pm - A BitterSweet Life – replica
by Kim Ji-woon (2005, 120min)
Saturday 8 April 2006
5:30 pm Innocent Steps
by Park Yeong-hoon (2005, 110min)
8:30 pm Trio - replica
by Park Chan-wook (1997, 102min) First national showing
10:40 pm Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - replica
by Park Chan-wook (2002, 121min)
Sunday 9 April 2006
3:30 pm The president's last Bang - replica
by Lim Sang-soo (2005, 104min)
5:30 pm Spider Forest - replica
by Song Il-gon (2004, 118min) - First national showing
8:30 pm Old Boy - replica
by Park Chan-wook (2003, 119min)
Cineteca di Firenze - Cinema Castello:
Via Reginaldo Giuliani 374 - Firenze
Monday 10 April 2006
6:00 pm If You were Me - replica
by Park Chan-wook (2003, 110min) - First national showing
8:00 pm Flower Island - replica
by Song Il-gon (2001, 119min)
9:45 pm Three Extremes - replica
by Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook, Takashi Miike (2004, 125min) - First national showing
The translation is offered by Jacqueline Gerringer
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