Jo Chang-ho (조창호)

Top directors assemble for short film fest's jury

Source | 2008/06/13 | Permalink |

The Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival (MSFF) assigned a high profile jury consisting of Korea's leading mainstream and independent directors. PARK Jin-pyo heads a jury further comprised of: KIM Tae-yong, KIM Yong-hwa, JO Chang-ho, KIM Hyeon-seok, KIM Tae-sik, KIM Han-min, JEON Gye-soo, CHOI Dong-hoon, and NA Hong-jin.

The Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival will open its doors on June 26 at Yongsan CGV in Seoul. The festival will finish on July 2. Among the upcoming directors, the festival also screens actor YOO Ji-tae's directorial short film effort "Out of My Intention" (Nado Moreuge) in the competition section.

PARK Jin-pyo directed "You Are My Sunshine" (Neoneun Nae Woonmyeong) and "Voice of Murderer" (Geu Nom Moksori). KIM Tae-yong received acclaim for his "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family", Gajokui Tansaeng). KIM Yong-hwa was the man behind the box office hit "200 Pounds Beauty" (Minyeoneun Gwereoweo). CJO Chang-ho competed at several international film festivals with "Th...| More

Rotterdam fest to highlight various Korean films

Source | 2008/01/18 | Permalink |

The 37th International Film Festival Rotterdam, scheduled to run from January 23 to February 3, will present a broad selection of Korean films in its line-up.

Although no Korean films will compete in the festival's main competition section for first and second films, the short film Waiting will participate in the festival's short film competition. The film, which was commissioned by the Jeonju International Film Festival as part of its Short! Short! Short! project, centers on a woman waiting for a train who encounters a boy who acts in strange ways. This marks the second year in the row that the film's director, KIM Jong-kwan, has had a short film competing at Rotterdam.

Three Korean features will screen in the Sturm und Drang (Cinema of the Future) section. The omnibus "Fantastic Parasuicides" centers on people who undergo surreal experiences at the moment they decide to kill themselves. "Hanging Tough" – directed by PARK Soo-yeong – is about a high school girl who wants to ...| More

In Cinemas This Weekend

Source | 2007/11/09 | Permalink |

And finally tonight let's see what's new at the movies this week.
Looks like it's a good mix of Korean and foreign productions with one for fans of Tom Cruise and Robert Redford and Taiwanese director Ang Lee.
Lee Jeewon has our preview.
We begin with an omnibus film from Korea.
Composed of three episodes, "Fantastic Parasuicides" is a movie from three directors, Park Soo-yeong, Jo Chang-ho and Kim Seong-ho that distributors say takes imagination to the extreme.
The first episode is about something that everyone might have dreamed about in school or rather the absence of it!
The second contains black humor about crime.
And the last story perhaps the quirkiest of all is about a romantic and elderly gay man who on his birthday tries to save a pretty boy.

Next is a Hollywood drama starring Oscar nominee Tom Cruise and Oscar winner Meryl Streep.
They are joined by another Oscar winner Robert Redford, who also directed the film.
The three characters in different parts of the Uni...| More

'Fantastic Parasuicides' Invited to Sydney Film Festival

Source | 2007/11/07 | Permalink |

The Korean omnibus film 'Fantastic Parasuicides' has been invited to the 2008 Sydney International Film Festival in Australia.

Producer and distributor Indiestory said it was unusual for festival organizers to invite a film prior to officially announcing the festival program.

The Fantastic Parasuicides, which was also invited to the Pusan International Film Festival's Wide Angle category, is an omnibus film which consists of three short films that come together under the common theme "suicide". The three short films include 'Three People in the Dark' directed by Park Soo-yeong, 'Fly Chicken!' directed by Jo Chang-ho and 'Happy Birthday' directed by Kim Seong-ho.

The annual Sydney International Film Festival is the largest film festival in the southern hemisphere that screens 300 films from 40 to 50 countries around the world. A number of Korean films have been invited in the past inlcuding 'Untold Scandal' and 'If You Were Me' in 2003, 'Host and Guest' in 2006 and 'Woman on th...| More

"The Cut" Combines Talent and Promising Actors

Source | 2007/07/16 | Permalink |

Egg Films and Chungeorahm Films released their horror summer title "The Cut" (Haeboohakgyosil). The film is directed by SON Tae-woong and the cast features the young actors HAN Ji-min and ON Joo-wan.

The film depicts medical students who one by one start to meet their death when they start dissecting a corps of a mysterious beautiful woman. The film tackles the horror genre from a visual imaginative angle rather than relying on gore.

SON is both a director and writer and he penned BONG Joon-ho's international breakthrough "Barking Dogs Never Bite" (2000). HAN has already a long career in television dramas. ON was recognized for his leading role in JO Chang-ho's 2006 international film festival favorite "The Peter Pan Formula". He also played supporting roles in the gangster film "Bloody Tie" and the martial arts film "The City of Violence".

Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC)...| More