Kang Yi-kwan (강이관)

Manilla's Korean Film Festival Kicks Off

Source | 2009/10/01 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Manilla's 2009 Korean Film Festival opened Sept 23, offering free screenings to the public during its one week run. Sponsored by the Korean Embassy and held at Shangri-La Plaza, the fest showcases seven Korean features and celebrates the "Philippines-Republic of Korea Friendship Year".

The program features some of the most artistically accomplished films in Korean cinema over the last 9 years, including renowned and emerging directors. Korean TV dramas are already popular in the Philippines, but audiences have yet to be exposed to Korean feature filmmaking.

The seven films in the program are "Old Boy" (PARK Chan-wook), "Barking Dogs Never Bite" (BONG Joon-ho), "Sa-Kwa" (KANG Yi-kwan), "Beyond the Years" (IM Kwon-taek), "The Show Must Go On" (HAN Jae-rim), "Forbidden Quest" (KIM Dae-woo) and "Driving with My Wife's Lover" (KIM Tae-sik).

Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)...| More

Horror Flick 'Epitaph' Invited to San Sebastian Film Festival

Source | 2007/08/16 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The Korean horror flick 'Epitaph' has been invited to the 55th San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.

The film production company Dorothy said that, despite the approaching film submission deadline, the organizers invited 'Gidam' to be screened in the 'Zabaltegi' category of this year's festival, citing the depth and wit of the film as the reasons for their decision.

The 'Zabaltegi' category invites films that have received sound reviews in major international film festivals or films by up-and-coming directors worth noticing. In 2005, film director Kang Yi-kwan's "Sa-Kwa" ("Apple") was invited to the film festival, and he received the award for best new screenwriter. Director Kim Ki-duk's 'The Bow' also received good reviews.

Korean films have done particularly well at the San Sebastian film festival. In 2002, 'The Way Home' was invited to the new director category and received a special jury prize and in 2003, 'Memories of Murder' received awards for best directo...| More

Korean Movies Welcomed to Toronto International Film Festival

Source | 2006/08/04 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Some Korean movies are warmly welcomed to the 31st Toronto International Film Festival, which will be held in Toronto from September 7 through 16. it is the biggest non-competitive film festival in the North American region.

First of all, "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family") (2006) of director Kim Tae-Yong is invited to the Discovery section of the film festival, which introduces new and emerging filmmakers in the world. 13 films are selected in the section this year, and they are competing for $10,000 prize.

Even though the movie event is non-competitive one, there is a special prize awarded by groups sponsoring the festival in each section. Last year, "Sa-Kwa" ("Apple") of director Kang Yi-Kwan was included in this section.

"The King and the Clown" (2005) of director Lee Joon-Ik and "The Host" (2006) of director Bong Joon-Ho are also invited to the festival.

The Korean movie "The King and the Clown" is selected at the Discovery section with Family Ties("The Birth of a ...| More

"The Birth Of A Family" Invited to Toronto Film Festival

Source | 2006/08/04 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The movie "The Birth of a Family" directed by Kim Tae-yong has been invited to the "Discovery" category of the 31st Toronto International Film Festival slated for September 7 in Canada.

The Toronto festival is the largest non-competition film festival in North America. Last year, Kang Yi-kwan's film "Sa-Kwa" ("Apple") was invited to the Discovery category, which shows films of promising filmmakers.

This year, 13 films will compete in this category for the prize of 10,000 dollars. Though the Toronto festival is non-competition, sponsors have prepared awards for each category.

Other Korean films that were invited to this year's festival include Kim Ki-duk's "Time" in the "Vision" category and Bong Joon-ho's "The Host" in the "Midnight Madness" category.
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Film "Apple" Invited to Tokyo FILMeX 2005

Source | 2005/09/29 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The film "Sa-Kwa" ("Apple", directed by rookie film director Kang Yi-kwan), which won the FIPRESCI Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, has been invited to the "Tokyo FILMeX 2005" to be held in Japan on Nov. 19-27.

According to Kim Ji-suk, a programmer of the Pusan International Film Festival secretariat, the film has been invited to the competition division of the sixth "Tokyo FILMeX", along with another Korean film, "Magician(s)" ("The Magicians") (directed by Song Il-gon).

This annual international film festival in Tokyo, which was founded by famous film director and actor Takeshi Kitano, is mainly dedicated to introducing independent films in the Asian region. Besides these two Korean films, seven other films, including the Chinese film "Pregnancy" (directed by Zhang Ming), have advanced to the competition division this year"....| More