Ahn Seul-gi (안슬기)

2008/04/22 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Director Ahn Seul-gi has a discerning eye for Korean youth and their wanderings. As a teacher, Ahn has observed how they struggle to figure out their roles in society where the outlook remains gloomy for many poverty-stricken students.

"My Song Is... " (Korean title: "Na-ui norae-neun") is a small-budget film that Ahn shot and produced during a school vacation period. Though the movie's overall scale is small, the challenges facing key characters are profoundly intense and realistic.

On a cold day, Hee-cheol (Sin Hyeon-ho) wakes up to find out he is missing a crucial college entrance exam. His indifferent grandmother has apparently turned off his alarm clock. Frustrated at her carelessness, Hee-cheol vents his anger at his grandmother, but she simply shrugs it off as if nothing important has happened.

In fact, the grandmother's gesture is telling in many respects. Hee-cheol lives with his aloof grandmother at a shabby house in an obscure area of Seoul. His father, a foul-mouth...

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2007/10/02 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

A slew of Korean features will have their World Premiere at the 12th Pusan International Film Festival, which opens October 4 for a 9 day run. A special highlight of the festival is "The Friends", a long-awaited second feature from director LEE Yeong-jae, whose debut was the endearing classic "The Harmonium in My Memory" (1999). The Friends is the story of three 6th graders who, curious about death, decide to visit a dying old man.

Films from new voices and recent film school graduates include KIM Sun-hee's "Drawing Paper", her HD feature debut - a coming-of-age story about the members of a girls high school band, and "Somewhere Over Here" by debut director LEE Seung-young, a similar-themed story of a young musically inclined girl discovering life.

The documentary "Lineage of the Voice" follows two boys from very different backgrounds as they develop their talent for the traditional singing practice called pansori. It is directed by Baek Yeon-ah, who was the editor on Daniel...

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2007/09/04 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) will continue its progress with 275 films and a record number of 193 premieres and the inauguration of new programs. PIFF's flagship New Currents competition boasts a complete selection of eleven world and international premieres. The 12th edition of Asia's major international film festival will run from October 4 until the 12th.

New Currents showcases low-budget independent films of emerging talented filmmakers. The Korean innovative competitors in New Currents are YOON Seong-ho's "Milky Way Liberation Front" and "My Song Is... " by AHN Seul-gi. The Chinese-Korean co-production "Life Track" (director Guang Hao Jin) is another contender.

PIFF complemented its program with the new sections Gala Presentation and Flash Forward. Gala Presentation focuses on films of "master cineastes" or world/international premieres. It will be an extensive program with several related events, including press conferences. The presence of visual audaciou...

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2007/08/23 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The newly created Asian Cinema Fund (ACF) will launch this year as part of the 12th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), providing financial support 27 film projects in an effort to further bolster the region's filmmaking talent. The support program will bring a cash total of US$ 840,000 to projects designated under three categories: the Independent Feature Script and Project Development fund (8 projects selected), the Independent Feature Post-Production Support fund (6 projects selected), and the previously existing Asian Network of Documentary (AND) fund which will support production and post for 13 projects selected this year.

The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) will contribute to the Independent Feature Post-Production Support fund along with other private and public sector sponsors. The fund will provide cash for digital intermediate processes to be carried out in South Korea. Of the six films chosen, two are from emerging Korean directors KIM Dong-hyun ("Hello, Stranger...

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2007/08/22 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

The Pusan (Busan) International Film Festival (PIFF) has launched the Asia Cinema Fund, a program to support independent film projects, the festival's organizing committee announced Tuesday at a Seoul hotel. PIFF, Korea's most celebrated cinematic event, will hold its 12th meeting between Oct. 4-12 in the southern port city.

The Asia Cinema Fund, with a balance of 800 million won, is an expansion of the festival's existing program, the Asia Documentary Network (AND). The program will finance 27 films under three categories: script and project development and post-production of full-length independent films, and the making of documentary works, a continuation of AND. Each section is split geographically, for Korean projects and Asian projects. The Association of Korean Independent Film & Video will help fund the Korean documentary projects.

"Asian Cinema Fund was created with a mission to broaden and deepen PIFF's support for Asian Cinema", said P...

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