Gwangju Int'l Film Festival to open Dec. 4

Many people talk about world-renowned international film festivals, such as Cannes, Venice or Berlin, where newly released films from around the world are premiered. Serious film fans also turn to their eyes to the Pusan International Film Festival, which has won international acclaim. Now it is the "Gwangju International Film Festival" that moviegoers must take seriously.

The "2008 8th Gwangju International Film Festival", or GIFF2008 for short, will kick off in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do (South Jeolla Province) on Thursday, Dec. 4 for a five-day run. It is a non-competitive film festival that does not premiere new films, but rather introduces up-and-coming film directors' movies, alongside old Korean and foreign classics that are still etched deep in fans' hearts.

The film festival, which will screen about 40 full-length and short films, will be organized by the Organizing Committee of the 2008 Gwangju International Film Festival under the joint sponsorship of the Korean Film Council and the Korean Film Archive.

With the ambition of serving as a film hub of Asia, the film festival aims to proactively introduce Asian films, with a view to stimulating Gwangju citizens' desire for culture and arts and laying a desirable foundation for the development of regional culture.

The film festival also aims to serve as a bridge between film arts in the East and the West, while also trying to open a new vista for film arts. The "flag" in the festival's logo, with powerful primary colors as a backdrop, symbolizes "festival" and the "future" of the film festival as an international event for all people from around the world to come and enjoy.

Details of the film festival follow:

☆ Period: Dec. 4 (Thursday)-Dec. 8 (Monday)

☆ Opening ceremony: Cinema Hall M, MegaBox Gwangju

☆ Film screenings: Cinema Halls 6, 7 and 8, MegaBox Gwangju

☆ Opening film: The Code (2008, Japan) directed by Kaizo Hayashi

☆ Main films to be screened

1. World Cinema Division

1) Vitus (2006, Switzerland) by Fredi M. Murer
2) La Tourneuse De Pages (2006, France) by Denis Dercourt
3) It's a Free World... (2007, the United Kingdom) by Ken Loach
4) Grbavica (2005, Bosnia-Herzegovina) by Jasmila Zbanic
5) Caramel (2007, Lebanon) by Nadine Labaki
6) C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005, Canada) by Jean-Marc Vallée
7) Black Dahlia (2006, the United States) by Brian De Palma

2. Young Cinema Division

1) The Clone Returns Home (2008, Japan) by Kanji Kanajima
2) "Still Strange" (2008, Korea) by Lee Hong-jae

3. The Late Lee Chung-joon Retrospective (films based on Lee's novels)

1) "Oyster Village" (1972, Korea) by Chung Jin-woo
2) "Ieoh Island" (1977, Korea) by Kim Ki-young
3) "Seopyeonje" (1993, Korea) by Im Kwon-taek
4) "The Festival" (1996, Korea) by Im Kwon-taek
5) "Beyond the Years" (2007, Korea) by Im Kwon-taek

4. Catherine Deneuve Retrospective

1) Ma Saison Preferee (1993, France) by André Téchiné
2) Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964, France) by Jacques Demy
3) Belle de Jour (1967, France) by Luis Buñuel
4) Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967, France) by Jacques Demy
5) Le Dernier Metro (1980, France) by François Truffaut

5. Korean Short Film Special

☆ Ticket sales information

1. Admission: 5,000 won

2. Ticket reservations & purchases:

1) Before the opening of the film festival: You can purchase tickets in advance at "Guest Service" desk on the 2nd floor of MegaBox Gwangju.
2) During the film festival: You can purchase tickets at "Ticket Box" for Gwangju International Film Festival on the 2nd floor of MegaBox Gwangju.
3) You can buy tickets in advance an hour before the screening of each film at the Gwangju International Film Festival website (www.giff.org) or the MegaBox website (www.megabox.co.kr).

☞ For more information, call 062-228-9972 (Gwangju International Film Festival, 3rd Floor, 5 Chungjangno 4-ga, Dong-gu, Gwangju).

☞ For website, click Open the link (Korean).

By Chung Myung-je
Korea.net Chief Staff Writer