Seven Korean films, including "Old Boy" and "Samaria", will be shown on the Sundance Movie Channel, an American cable TV network.
Kim Jee-suk, programmer of the Pusan International Film Festival, recently stated, "SunDance Movie Channel, a leading movie cable channel in the United States, has bought the exclusive US televising rights to a total of eight Asian films from their distributor Tartan".
Kim added, "No schedule for airing the Korean films has been settled yet. However a tentative decision has been made to air the films during prime time every Sunday".
The seven Korean movies to be broadcast on the Sun Dance channel will be Park Chan-wook's thrillers "Old Boy" (2003) and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" (2005); Kim Ki-duk's "Samaria" (2004); Kim Ji-woon's "A Tale of Two Sisters" (2003); Lee Jong-hyuk's "H" (2002); "Memento Mori" (1999), jointly directed by Kim Tae-yong and Min Gyoo-dong; and Ahn Byeong-ki's Phone (2002).
Park Chan-wook's thriller "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" received three awards at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival. This movie relates the story of Lee Geum-ja, played by Lee Young-ae, a beautiful and deadly young woman who is half angel and half devil; serene as she is furious. After suffering unfair treatment, Geum-ja found herself sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for the murder and abduction of a child. After she is released from prison, she sets out on a mission of vengeance.
Director Kim Ki-duk's controversial "Samaria" was awarded the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival for best director, and was regarded as one of the films in the competition for Best Film. The film is divided into three chapters: "Vasumitra" deals with the friendship between Jae-Young and Yeo-Ji, two high school girls who get involved in teen prostitution in order to earn money for a trip to Europe. The following chapter, "Samaria" deals with Yeo-Ji's reaction to the death of her best friend and the final chapter, "Sonata", concludes the tale.
Kim Ji-Woon's psychological horror movie, "A Tale of Two Sisters", is based loosely on the old Korean folk tale of Su-mi and Su-yeon, who were always been very close as sisters. When they return home from hospital after recuperating from some mysterious illness they find themselves at odds with their wicked stepmother. The stepmother wants to pretend they are a happy family, but the girls are desperate to expose her evilness to their father and free the house from her deadly spell.
Kim Tae-yong and Min Gyoo-dong's twisted horror film "Memento Mori" is the second installment of the "Whispering Corridors" series of films. The movie takes place in an all-girls school where two girls, Hyo-shin and Shi-eun, become secret lovers. Min-Ah finds a strange diary, kept by the two lovers, that is capable of arousing hallucinations in the reader. Hyo-Shin suddenly kills herself, for no obvious reason. The entire school is shocked and depressed. Min-Ah, however, starts as if she is somehow possessed by the dead girl. "Memento Mori" was preceded by the titular "Whispering Corridors" in 1998, succeeded by "Wishing Stairs" in 2003 and then by "Voice" ("Voice Letter") in 2005.
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