The 7th Seoul Net and Film Festival, known collectively as SENEF, will run this September 8 to 17 at venues in central Seoul. While the internet component of the festival has been running online since May, the newly named and expanded Seoul Film Festival will screen a diverse range of international films in both conventional and digital formats, along with a special selection of Korean films by first-time directors. Both the international and the Korean sections will offer cash awards of US$6000 and US$5000 respectively, with an international jury selecting the winners.
The opening film will be Turkish production Climates, by Cannes Grand Prix winning director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. A special section called 'Asia in Focus' will present six films from Asian countries including Taiwan, the Philippines, and Lebanon, as selected from 'Best 5'lists provided by several top Asian film critics and festival directors.
Korean films showcased in this year's newly added competition section 'First Cuts'are the feature debuts by six directors:
Yoon Jong-bin - "
The Unforgiven",
Lee Ha - "
Bewitching Attraction",
Nam Seon-ho - "
Family Matters",
Sin Dong-il - "
Host and Guest",
Park Seong-hoon - "
Ssunday Seoul", and
Kwon Hyeong-jin - "For Horowitz" ("
My Piano").
Other sections include the Korean Digital Film Showcase a selection of innovative Korean short and feature films in digital format, Digital Cinema Choice a showcase of award-winning short and feature films from around the world in digital format, Manifesta which this year highlights the works of Avant-Garde Japanese artist Terayama Shuji, and the Special Program Japanese Kaidan Movies, which looks at the ghost films of director Nakagawa Nobuo.
Ofspecial note is the section Over the Cinema, a cinematic labyrinth of masterly detours in contemporary world cinema, including recent works by renowned directors such as Alexander Sokurov, Lukas Moodysson, Abel Ferrara, Claude Chabrol and Marco Bellochio.
All films will have English and Korean subtitles unless otherwise noted, and the screenings will take place at Sponge House and Seoul Art Cinema in Jongno, downtown Seoul. More information can be found at the festival website:
Open the link
Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)
