Sin Dong-il (신동일)

"Rough Cut" Ready for September Release

2008/08/13 | Source | Permalink |

Director JANG Hun, a new protégé of maverick auteur KIM Ki-duk, will see his feature debut "Rough Cut" released locally this September 11th. The US$ 1.5 million action-drama (Korean title: "A Movie is a Movie"), is the second film, not directed by KIM, to be produced by his production company KIM Ki-duk Film.

"Rough Cut" explores the slippery line between reality and fiction in film. It tells the story of an actor, Soo-ta, who begins to identify too well with the gangster role he is playing, disrupting the shoot. He ends up bringing a real gangster into the cast, Kang-pae, who has thespian ambitions – but the two strike a deal to use real violence during the action scenes instead of staged fights.

Soo-ta will be played by KANG Ji-hwan (from SIN Dong-il's "Host and Guest") while SO Ji-sub (from TV series "Sorry, I Love You") plays Kang-pae. Korean sales company Showbox Mediaplex has picked the film up. It is distributed locally by Studio 2.0. A trailer for the film was rece...| More

Yeonghwaneun Yeonghwada with SO Ji-sub pre-sold to Japan

2008/05/30 | Source | Permalink |

Director JANG hoon's upcoming Yeonghwaneun Yeonghwada (English translation: film is film) has been pre-sold to Japan's Phonicanon at the Festival de Cannes market. The film stars SO Ji-sub who enjoys great popularity in Japan because of the hit television dramas "Something Happened in Bali" (Balieseo Saengin Il) and "Sorry, I Love You" (Mianhada, Saranghanda).

The KIM Ki-duk produced film's cast also includes KANG Ji-hwan. KANG's acting career consists of various television dramas and the acclaimed feature film debut of director SIN Dong-il "Host and Guest" (Bangmoonja) which was selected by various film festivals including Pusan International Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival.

Like SO and KANG, director JANG's track record also lies mostly in television. In addition, he was KIM Ki-duk's assistant director on The Bow.

SO plays a gangster who meets KANG's character, a star actor who is tackling a gangster role. Filming is currently taking place and should e...| More

Short Films' Showcase in Seoul Judged by LEE Chang-dong

2007/10/24 | Source | Permalink |

Korea's singular competitive and international short film festival Asiana International Short Film Festival 2007 (AISFF2007, www.aisff.org/) will present short films from around the world from November 1 and will end its run on November 6. The short films will be shown in Cinecube, located in Seoul's Gwanghwamun area.

AISFF's international competition section is extensive with numerous awards for a great variety of short film selections. Moreover, the festival includes several special programs which contain the short films: "The Holy Family" by SIN Dong-il ("Host and Guest"), Xi'an Story by Fruit Chan (Durian Durian), Gulp by Jason Reitman (Thank you for Smoking), and Epilogue by Tom Twyker (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), among others.

AISFF aims to encourage, showcase, introduce, market, and support the "unique cinematic creativity of the short film genre". LEE Chang-dong heads the festival's International Competition Jury.

The short film festival is made possible thro...| More

Pruning the Grapevine in Competition at Karlovy Vary

2007/06/22 | Source | Permalink |

Korean film "Pruning the Grapevine" (2006), by MIN Byeong-hoon, will screen in the Official Selection – Competition section of the 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The event which is held each year in the picturesque valley also known as Karlsbad, in the western province of Bohemia, Czech Republic, opens on June 29th for a nine-day run. A total of six Korean features will screen in various sections of the festival.

Grapevine director MIN is known to Karlovy Vary programmers, after his first film, "The Flight of the Bee" (1998, co-directed by Jamshed Usmonov) and his second, "Let's Not Cry", were screened at previous editions of the festival with the latter winning both a FIPRESCI award and a main jury Special Mention in 2002. Grapevine lead SEO Jang-won is also a familiar face at Karlovy Vary after his screen debut "The Unforgiven" was shown at last year's event.

"Pruning the Grapevine" was the recipient of KOFIC's Art Film Production Support program in 2005 a...| More

2nd Chance to See The Magicians, Host & Guest and More

2006/12/26 | Source | Permalink |

Hypertech Nada's annual Nada's Final Proposal (Nada Majimak Peropojeu) aims to re-introduce to the audience films that in general only enjoyed a short cinema run, but arguably - deserve greater exposure. This year the line-up includes the independent Korean films: "The Magicians" (Mabeobsa), "Host and Guest" (Bangmoonja), "Between" (Sai-eseo), "No Regret" (Hoohwehaji anha) and the Korean-Chinese co-production "Grain in Ear" (Majong). The more mainstream film "Dasepo Naughty Girls" (Dasepo Sonyeo - "Dasepo Girl") is also included.

Writer/director SONG Il-gon showed great skill, inventiveness and imagination by filming "The Magicians" in one take, even more when considering that the storyline moves between past and present. The plot revolves around former band members who come together to commemorate the suicide of one of them. The ghost of the deceased is also present and observes how they still struggle with the loss and their feelings of guilt.

"Host and Guest" is the feature f...| More