Jeong Sik (정식)

Seoul-Stockholm Korean Film Festival

Source | 2008/09/11 | Permalink |

Following the success of its previous edition, the Seoul-Stockholm Korean Film Festival will showcase recent artistic and commercial hits from South Korea. Running September 17 – 21 at the Zita theater in Stockholm, the event will screen 8 Korean features, up from 5 shown in 2007.4 Korean directors will attend the event as special guests.

This year's selection includes two features presented at the Berlin Film Festival: HONG Sang-soo's "Night and Day" which screened in the 2008 competition section, and LEE Yoon-ki's "Ad-lib Night", shown in the 2007 Young Forum section. Also in the program are fest favorites, JEON Soo-il's "With a Girl of Black Soil" which screened at Venice 2007, and Thessaloniki Int'l Film Festival's top-prize winner "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family") by KIM Tae-yong.

Another indie gem making the festival rounds, "Milky Way Liberation Front" by YOON Seong-ho, will screen with the director invited to Stockholm for a guest Q & A session. Two popular featu...| More

LEE Chang-dong to reveal his project at PIFF

Source | 2008/08/22 | Permalink |

The Pusan International Film Festival(PIFF) announced the selected projects of the 11th Pusan Promotion Plan(PPP 2008). Renowned director LEE Chang-dong is among them to unveil his next project at this year's PIFF. Unlike the other participants of PPP 2008, LEE Chang-dong's fifth has no title as yet and is listed as LEE Chang-dong Project.

Alongside master director LEE Chang-dong, exciting rookie filmmaker JEONG Beom-sik will also present his upcoming project Eugenia at PPP 2008. JEONG impressed with his debut feature film "Epitaph", jointly directed with his brother JEONG Sik.

CHOI Dong-hoon, director of the critical and commercial success "Tazza: the High Rollers" ("The War of Flower"), will attend with "Jeon Woo Chi", a film starring KANG Dong-won and IM Soo-jeong. JO Eun-hee will showcase her project "Quary", and OH Seong-yoon's "Yipsaka Chicken Wild", has also been invited.

Korean-Chinese director ZHANG Lu's Korean project "Father", Sabu's Korean-Japanese co-production "A...| More

High school is horror

Source | 2008/07/23 | Permalink |

Somewhat late and on its own, but August 7 will finally welcome a Korean horror film to the summer entertainment circuit. The title "Death Bell" ("Gosa") stands for midterms in Korean. The horror title will turn the figurative blood, sweat, and tears of exams into palpable blood, sweat, and tears on cinema screens.

Summer horror films are traditionally the playground for new talent, and "Death Bell" ("Gosa")will mark the feature film debut of Director Chang. He filmed television actress YOON Jeong-hee and female singer NAM Gyoo-ri alongside veteran actor LEE Beom-soo (Superstar Mr. Gam/Superstar Gamsayong), and young actor KIM Beom of the popular television drama "Coffee Prince".

Korean horror films are this summer mostly replaced with ambitious big budget projects. "Death Bell" ("Gosa") is the only Korean horror title lined-up in the running year's summer.

Directing brother's JEONG Beom-sik, and JEONG Sik made their name internationally last year with festival favourite "Ep...| More

New York Korean Film Festival this August

Source | 2008/07/18 | Permalink |

The seventh edition of the New York Korean Film Festival is set to run August 22 – 31. Sponsored by KOFIC and The Korea Society, the event will screen more than 15 recent Korean features, of which 14 have been finalized for the line-up.

Highlights include one of the top-grossing Korean films of 2008, "Forever the Moment", a sports-redemption-themed film directed by LIM Soon-rye and starring MOON So-ri and KIM Jeong-eun. Other 2008 releases in the line-up are "Hellcats" by KWON Chil-in, "Once Upon a Time" by JEONG Yong-ki, "Open City" by LEE Sang-gi, "Spare" by LEE Seong-han, and the Korea-Japanese co-production "Virgin Snow" starring LEE Joon-ki and Aoi Miyazaki.

Films in the program from 2007 include such high-profile films as the Chosun-set popular tale, "Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007", starring SONG Hye-kyo, the Kwang-ju-set historical tragedy, May 18th, a Chosun-set tale of high stakes cooking, "Le Grand Chef", and Daniel Henney vehicle and tear-jerker, "My Father".

Othe...| More

Epitaph sold to Japan, Hong Kong, and North America

Source | 2008/04/04 | Permalink |

Among the new slate of talented young Korean directors, the brothers JEONG Beom-sik and JEONG Sik are among its leading exponents; the latest development around their debut film "Epitaph" (Gidam) is the sale of its distribution rights to North America (TLA Releasing), Hong Kong (Celestial Movies Channel) and Japan (CCRE) by Studio 2.0 at the Hong Kong Filmart.

Studio 2.0 also sold the rights of "Highway Star" (Bokmyeon Dalho), starring CHA Tae-hyeon, to Hong Kong (Celestial Movies Channel), China (H.G.C.) and Vietnam (Diamond Cinema). Animation "Aachi and Ssipak" was picked up by Spain's Notro and "Lovers of 6 Years" (Yooknyeonjjae Yeonae Joong) with KIM Ha-neul will be released in Vietnam (Diamond Cinema).

TLA Releasing describes its prized acquisition "Epitaph" as, "Beautifully lush, Korean supernatural, psychological horror", and, "A reinvention of Korean horror and moving it into a refreshingly, new direction". JIN Goo ("A Dirty Carnival"/Biyeorhan Geori), KIM Bo-kyeong ("W...| More