Kim Ji-seok (김지석)

KIM Yong-hwa directs HA Jeong-woo in sports drama

2008/06/13 | Source | Permalink |

Director KIM Yong-hwa –two years after his hit comedy "200 Pounds Beauty" – will direct Gookkadaepyo (English translation: "national representative") about a group of ski jumpers vying for the Korean national team. Next Hallyu star HA Jeong-woo has been cast in the leading role.

"Forever the Moment" showed the potential of Korean sport films earlier this yearand Koreans have a passion for their national representative athletes. Like LIM Soon-rye's "Forever the Moment", Gookkadaepyo also seems to concentrate on the emotional side of top sport and character development.

HA will play a Korean-American adoptee who returns to Korea in search of his roots. In the confusion of his visit to his unfamiliar birth country, he finds himself trying to make it into the Korean national ski jump team while in search of his identity.

The other main characters are competing athletes and are played by television actors KIM Dong-wuk – from the popular television series "Coffee Prince", and KIM Ji...| More

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"Likable or Not" Excitement with a reason.. and emptiness

2008/05/15 | Source | Permalink |

KBS daily drama "Likable or Not", which had ratings up to 40%, ended on the 2nd.

This drama started with the intention to rethink the true meaning of family through the story of a remarried family from different bloodlines, backgrounds, and moral values.

But in the last episode, Baek-ho's (Kim Ji-seok) secret of his birth was revealed, and that purpose faded, leaving emptiness behind.

All the characters rounded off with forgiveness and reconciliation, and it couldn't escape the conventional aspects of the daily drama, which was pointed out as a limitation.

Even with the limitations of birth and the narrow-minded development, "Likable or Not" had record ratings and received love from viewers.

The first reason it was so popular was that the solving of the problems put in suspense in the storyline.

All the characters were involved in opposing forces, good and evil, ability and disability, and love and betrayal, and these caused problems that remained faithful to essent...| More

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Famous beach destination surrenders itself to celluloid

2007/09/28 | Source | Permalink |

There was a time when Kim Dong-ho had to fight those who ridiculed the idea of an international film festival in the port city of Busan.
When he recalls those days from 1995, when he was launching the film festival, Kim, the festival's director, is relishing the fact that the Pusan International Film Festival (or PIFF) is about to enjoy its 12th opening night next Thursday and has become one of the most important film festivals in Asia.
What makes him even more proud is that the festival is ready to offer its audience 275 films from 66 countries. This year's theme, "Beyond the Frame", was chosen to suggest that PIFF is ready jump to a higher level.
Kim is also delighted that 66 films in the PIFF 2007 lineup are having their world premiere in Busan and 35 are being shown for the first time outside of their home country, reflecting the festival's growing status. The number of premieres is the highest in the history of PIFF ― in its opening year the festival had just 10 or so pre...| More

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Cinema of harsh reality at Pusan Film Festival

2007/09/05 | Source | Permalink |

The Pusan International Film Festival, one of the biggest film festivals in Asia, will celebrate its 12th year in October with a cascade of Asian films, many of them portraying individuals grappling with modern-day issues like war, family fall-out and urban poverty, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Opening the nine-day event will be "Assembly", a Chinese drama about a fallen soldier of the 1948 Chinese civil war, fought between the communists and the nationalists.

It is unusual for PIFF to choose a foreign film as its opener, but the $10 million film by Feng Xiaogang of "The Banquet" has a South Korean element: it is a joint production between China's Huayi Brothers Media & Co. Ltd. and South Korea's MK Pictures, and all battle scenes were created by the South Korean special effects team that worked on the 2004 Korean blockbuster "Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War".

The emergence of Japanese, Chinese and Indian commercial movies will also be highlighted during the Oct. 4-12 fes...| More

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"Gift" Invited to Bangkok Film Festival

2007/07/16 | Source | Permalink |

Director Lee In-ui's movie "Gift" and Lee Dang-yeob's film "J, A Photographer In A Strange Village" have been invited to compete at the 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival, which opens July 19.

In the non-competition section, invited Korean movies include "Dasepo Girl", "No Mercy for the Rude", "Time" and "The Forty-Nine-Day Meetings".

Opening the festival will be "Children of Glory" from Hungary, instead of the originally scheduled animation film "Persepolis", which was turned down by the government.

Also invited to the festival were the head of the Pusan International Film Festival executive committee Kim Dong-ho and senior programmer Kim Ji-seok. ...| More

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