Kim Seong-soo (김성수)

2007/04/09 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Can you imagine the film "Cinema Paradiso" without Ennio Morricone's score masterfully capturing the gentle-natured, nostalgic feel of the film? Music's influence on moviegoers' attitude toward a film is far greater than one might think, yet few attribute a film's success to it in Korea.

This could be why there are few composers dedicated fully to original film scores in the country, but at least the film industry has one outstanding film music composer worthy of being proud of: Jo Seong-woo, president of M&F (Music & Film) Creation.

"A talented composer can't necessarily be a good film composer because it takes a deep insight into filmmaking", Jo said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

This Thursday, a CD collection of his film scores containing a total of 32 pieces of music highlighting 23 different films will come out. The album titled "Jo Seong-woo: Best of Cinema Music" is, according to Jo, the very essence of his music persona as well as a memoir of the time when bot...

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2006/10/20 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The Korean Film Festival will be held in Beijing and Shanghai from Friday through Sunday, after the CJ China Film Festival was held in the two biggest Korean cities of Seoul and Busan last month. The festivals are expected to facilitate exchange between the Korean and Chinese film industries.

The Korean Film Festival will focus on highlighting diversity in Korean movies, while the Chinese Film Festival put an emphasis on introducing works by new-generation Chinese directors.

Ten movies to be shown at the festival are: "My Boss, My Teacher", "The Big Scene", "You Are My Sunshine", "All for Love" ("My Lovely Week"), "A Moment to Remember", "My Brother", "Arahan", " The Memories of Murder", "The Classic", and "Musa - The Warrior".

Director Kim Seong-soo of "The Restless" and actor Jeong Woo-seong and actress Kim Tae-hee, who starred in the movie, will serve as the festival's promotional ambassadors. The venues are CGV Multiplex Cinema in Shanghai and Stellar Cinema City and Wangf...

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2006/10/10 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The fantasy martial arts film "The Restless" stars JEONG Woo-seong and the female lead is played by KIM Tae-hee. Jo Dong-oh makes his feature film directing debut. The film is scheduled for release in December this year.

The Restless's setting is a stylized fantasy world for souls that have passed away before they reincarnate. The epic film combines elements as romance, fantasy, sword fights/martial arts and the fight between good and evil.

JUNG Woo-sung was one of the protagonists of the Korean film Musa (KIM Seong-soo, 2001) and several staff members of the Musa production team also reunite for "The Restless". JEONG starred in "A Moment to Remember" (LEE Jae-han, 2004) which became a hit in Japan. This year he played in "Daisy" with JEON Ji-hyeon. JEONG and JO Dong-oh collaborated before on the film "Beat" (1997), JEONG as the male lead and JO was the assistant director. KIM Tae-hee is best known for her television dramas.

Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC) ...

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2006/09/28 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The 3rd LA Korean International Film Festival will open Sept. 29 (local time) at West Hollywood in Los Angeles for a seven-day run.

The festival will feature films in various genres by South Korean and Korean-American filmmakers, including short films, documentaries and anime films. The film "Running Wild" by director Kim Seong-soo has been chosen for the opening ceremony of this year's festival. After the film's screening, Kim will hold a question-and-answer session with viewers.

Other films that have been invited include Park Chan-wook's "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance", Kim Dae-woo's "Forbidden QUestt", Lee Yoon-ki's "This Charming Girl" and Lee Hyeon-seung's "Il Mare", which drew the spotlight for a Hollywood remake entitled "The Lake House".

Films by Korean-American directors include "Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles" by Tomy Yoon and Lee Dong-wook, "The Present" by Kim hyung-hyup, and "Asian Stories" by Chris Chin.

The festival is held on annual basis to nurture media aes...

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2006/09/28 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The Los Angeles Korean International Film Festival kicks off its one-week run Friday at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theater in West Hollywood, featuring an array of contemporary Korean and Korean-American films.

The third annual festival starts with an opening night presentation of director Kim Seong-soo's action drama "Running Wild", starring Kwon Sang-woo and Yu Ji-tae ("Old Boy"). Kim also makes a special appearance for a post-screening question-and-answer session with Korean film buffs.

The filmfest, the largest event dedicated to Korean and Korean-American cinema in North America, features several high-profile Korean movies, including Park Chan-wook's "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" and Lee Yoon-ki's award-winning film "This Charming Girl".

In addition, Lee Hyeon-seung's time-travel romance "Il Mare", staring popular Korean Wave actress Jeon Ji-hyeon ("My Sassy Girl") and Lee Jeong-jae ("Typhoon"), will be screened to celebrate the first Korean film to be remade by Hollywood ("The...

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