Chae-gi (채기)

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Ten rising South Korean filmmakers present seriocomic stories about money matters in the omnibus project "Short! Short! Short! 2009": Show Me the Money.

As much as the opening film for the 10th Jeonju International Film Festival is about money, the tight budget for the project ($5,000 per director) is most palpable. The screaming individuality and experimentalism of each episode compensate, but commercial prospects seem slight and the flick will most likely find a small niche in arthouse cinemas.

The omnibus reel opens with Choi Ik-hwan's one-cut flick "Our Last Words, Live". The "Life is Cool" director offers a mock home video featuring two despairing young men, who, defrauded, bankrupt and about to get arrested for false charges, try to assert their innocence by recording their last words on tape before committing suicide. But life ― and death ― are often beyond one's control.

In "A Tip for Cigarettes" by Nam Da-jeon, a news reporter stages a story about teenage smoking. What seemed simple enough ― paying an underage smoker to act like she is askin...More