Jeong Jae-yeong (정재영)

[Talk of the town] Get your short film fix

Source | 2009/06/26 | Permalink |

The Eighth Mise-en-Scene Short Film Festival kicked off last Wednesday at CGV Yongsan, central Seoul.

The representative committee chairman this year is Bong Joon-ho, director of the current hit film "Mother".

Other renowned filmmakers in Korea attended the opening ceremony Wednesday evening, including directors Park Chan-wook and Heo Jin-ho. Movie stars including Won Bin, Sin Min-ah, Jeong Jae-yeong, Park Hae-il and Kim Joo-hyeok also came to support the festival.

A total of 120 Korean and international shorts, from comedies and dramas to action and thrillers, will be screened at the annual event. The festival continues until Tuesday. ...| More

Korean Film Festival to Kick Off in Washington DC

Source | 2009/04/01 | Permalink |

From April 17 to June 10, Smithsonian Museum's Sackler and Freer galleries will hold Washington DC's fifth Korean Film Festival. It was organized by Tom Vick, film programmer for the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution, and Hyunjun Min of the University of Maryland.

The annual Korean Film Festival in Washington, DC, seeks to acquaint a wide international audience with the flourishing Korean film industry. The festival will highlight the creative achievements of local Korean filmmakers. The festival is open to people of all cultures.

Throughout the Washington DC metro area, this year's festival films will be screened at a wide array of venues. All Smithsonian events are free, but tickets are required. Usually, these are given out at least one hour before a scheduled performance. Though for more popular events, lines have been known to form far in advance. You can reserve no more than two tickets at a time.

Other theaters than the Sackler and Freer galleri...| More

Korean Films to Return in April

Source | 2009/03/26 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

South Korean cinema offers only a handful of releases this month, but a big lineup of homegrown films awaits moviegoers in April.

Some 10 domestic titles are slated for release next month, of which a majority are mainstream franchises that will play in theaters nationwide.

Leading the pack is "Private Eye", coming to screens April 2, starring Hwang Jeong-min as a private detective and Ryoo Deok-hwan as a young medical trainee who try to solve a serial murder case during the Japanese colonial era (1910-45). A special preview of the film with English subtitles is taking place at 7 p.m. tonight at CINUS Myeongdong Theater. The subtitled film will be available on the official release date at the venue, as well as CINUS Gangnam.

A week later, Kang Hye-jeong, the charming heroine of "Welcome to Dongmakgol", will return to the big screen opposite Park Hee-soon ("Seven Days") in "Urijibe Wae Watni" ("Why Did You Come to My House - Movie"), a quirky t...| More

Top Cineastes to Grace Art Film Fest

Source | 2009/01/20 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

That special time of the year has come around, when South Korea's top filmmakers and actors turn into film festival programmers. The 4th Cinematheque Friends Film Festival will take place Jan. 29-March 1 in Seoul, and director Park Chan-wook and some 20 other cineastes will meet with the audience to show and discuss 26 movies they have personally selected.

"I don't think there is a film festival like the Cinematheque Friends Film Festival anywhere else in the world", Park told reporters last week in Seoul. "Where else can you see all the representative cineastes ― directors, critics and stars ― gather in one place to introduce, watch and discuss old movies with fans?"

"Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" (1927) by F.W. Murnau will open the festival. Actors Kwon Hae-hyo and Ye Ji-won will host the opening event at Cinematheque Seoul Art Cinema in Jongno.

The country's singular "cinema library" will transform into "The Cinematheque of Ha...| More

2008 packed surprises

Source | 2008/12/11 | Permalink |

Data released by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) on December 2, revealed a number of modest budgeted films in the top five of most successful films in 2008. However, the list is lead by the big budget blockbuster "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" by KIM Ji-woon. The kimchi western attracted 7.03 million viewers, undoubtedly, partly due to the presence of the stars SONG Kang-ho, LEE Byeong-heon, and JEONG Woo-seong.

Number two was 2008's biggest surprise, the sleeper hit "The Chaser". NA Hong-jin's low budget thriller mobilised 5 million Koreans. "The Chaser", its director NA, and its leading actors KIM Yoon-seok and HA Jeong-woo also received much critical acclaim along with major awards.

KANG Woo-seok's "Public Enemy Returns" accumulated 4.2 million spectators. SEOL Kyeong-gu reprised his role in the third instalment, this time pursuing a criminal played by JEONG Jae-yeong. JANG Jin delivered the screenplay of the third most popular film.

"Forever the Moment", became one of th...| More