Choi-ha Dong-ha (최하동하)

2nd France-Korean Film Fest in Paris

Source | 2007/12/04 | Permalink |

The 2nd annual France Korean Film Festival (Festival Franco-Coréen du Film) will take place Dec 12 -18 in Paris. Presented in partnership with Association 1886, an organization of young students and filmmakers from France and Korea, the goal of the festival is to promote fresh and promising creative talent in Korea.

The event will screen ten features (five documentaries and five fiction works) from young directors along with ten short films. Included in this year's program are the award-winning festival favorite "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family") by KIM Tae-yong, Pusan premiere "Before The Summer Passes Away" by SEONG Ji-hye in her feature debut, YOON Jong-bin's "The Unforgiven" which screened in Cannes Un Certain Regard, NOH Dong-seok's Boys of Tomorrow.

Among documentaries in the program are the award-winning "Our School" by KIM Myeong-joon, "Taxi Blues" by CHOI-HA dong-ha, "Dear Pyongyang" by YANG Yeong-hee, and "Coreen 2495" by HA Jun-soo. Among short films are aw...| More

12th PIFF Names Jury and Awardees

Source | 2007/08/28 | Permalink |

The 12th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) has announced that Iranian director Dariush MEHRJUI is to head the jury of this year's New Currents awards section during the upcoming event which takes place October 4th – 12th. MEHRJUI has won numerous awards during his over 40-year filmmaking career, including the Venice Critic's Award for his second feature The Cow (1970).

Also on the jury are celebrated Korean director LEE Chang-dong, whose "Secret Sunshine" won the Best Actress prize at Cannes this year, fellow Cannes competitor Cristian MUNGIU of Romania, who took home the Palme d'Or for 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, award-winning Chinese actress Nan YU, and top director Goran Paskaljevic of Serbia. They will select 3 films from the New Currents section for awards worth US$ 30 000 each.

On the Jury of the US$10 000 Sonje Award, given to the best short or documentary film in PIFF's Wide Angle section, are three Korean filmmakers: documentary director, CHOI-HA Dong-ha, in...| More

First-person narratives screen at festival of documentaries

Source | 2006/10/31 | Permalink |

Director Kim Myeong-joon's film "Our School" is a documentary about a school in Japan run by the pro-North Korea General Association of Korean Residents. It produces both laughter and tears. Unlike most documentaries, the film is a first-person narrative.
It is unusual for this kind of documentary to be shown in movie theaters, but this and a similar documentary, director Choi-ha Dong-ha's "Taxi Blues", are being shown during the sixth Seoul Independent Documentary Festival at the Seoul Art Cinema in Jongno, Seoul.
"Our School" is scheduled to be screened today. The documentary chronicles a year in the life of senior students at a high school on Hokkaido island, in Japan. The film won the Unpa Award for best documentary at the Pusan International Film Festival recently. Because the school is run by the pro-North Korea General Association of Korean Residents, some people may prejudge it, but the documentary genuinely illustrates the school community and its atmosphere. Korean resident...| More