By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Every year film experts and fans flock to one city to take part of one of the numerous international film festivals. Yet this month there is no need to book a flight, because the traveling RESFEST Film Festivals arrives in Seoul Aug. 24 to provide a weekend of audiovisual delight.
The global film festival visits Korea as part of their cross-continent tour, visiting 45 cities including New York, Tokyo, San Paolo, Melbourne, and Cape Town. It showcases the year's best short films, music videos and animations through a mix of screenings, parties, workshops and live music events.
Under the theme "Looking Back at the Future", this year's festival "cooks up" a hybrid of 210 short and full-length works under 11 sections at the Namsan Drama Center.
The festival's opening event features an omnibus of the hottest music video and commercial clips by the geniuses of the production company Directors Bureau: Roman Coppola, Sophia Coppola, Shynola and Patrick Daughters among others. Participants can also look forward to "RES HACKS", an exciting live audiovisual performance by top DJ group MindBusters, who will combine video game images, electronic percussion sounds and other tools in sync with the festival's character.
Fans of electronic and alternative music can also tune into the "Youtube Killed the Video Star" section, and indulge in the colorful music videos of musicians like Cornelius, EL-P, and Tom Yorke.
RESFEST's one and only full-length film, "A Scanner Darkly" (2006) starring Keanu Reeves, will close the festival. Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, who inspired movies like "Blade Runner" (1982) and "Minority Report" (2002), this harrowing tale about a drug-addict will be screened in hi-definition (HD) format.
Don't miss the "Jonathan Wells Talk Show" Aug. 25. RESFEST founder Jonathan Wells; Lana Kim, director of Production Bureau; and Tommy Pallota, producer of "A Scanner Darkly" will give a seminar on the current trends and future outlook of digital films and music videos.
Ever wonder how the amazing visual effects of larger than life films like "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007) were whipped up? Learn it from the computer graphic guru himself. Park Jae-wook, technical director of the pirate movie and other blockbusters like "Superman Returns" (2006), "King Kong" (2005) and "The Host" (2006), will share his know-how in a special seminar, "Pirates of the Caribbean" Visual Effects Seminar, Aug. 26.
Founded in San Francisco during the mid-1990s as the Low Resolution Film Festival, the annual event became a hotspot for digital filmmakers and was renamed as RESFEST Digital Film Festival in 1998.
Introducing the latest film trends and innovative techniques in filmmaking, the RESFEST Film Festival now works without the term "Digital" because digital films have become universal. The festival has also played a major role in promoting the works of film gurus like Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", 2004) and Spike Jonze ("Adaptation", 2002).
Admission to the opening and closing ceremonies is 10,000 won. Tickets for all films cost 7,000 won, except night screenings, 17,000 won. Or you can purchase a RES PASS to watch five films of your choice for 30,000 won. But hurry, only 200 passes are available for sale. Seminars are 20,000 won. Call 02)798-7756 or email ticket@resfest.co.kr for more information about tickets.
To learn more about RESFEST Korea, visit Open the link.
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