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 ...
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Local horror title "
Death Bell" ("Gosa") looks set to axe fellow horror films from their top rankings to become the second most popular Korean horror film.
In a star studded summer of big-budget entertainment, the modest budgeted 'rookie' project "
Death Bell" ("Gosa") accumulated over 1.2 million victims in cinemas during 18 days, according to its producer Go-eo Contents Media.
"...
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Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)
Kong Soo-chang's follow-up to "
R-Point" is a disappointment
There are hundreds of guide posts (GPs) along the length of the North-South Korean border. South and North Korean troops stationed at them are at a constant state of alert, with heavy artillery pointed at one another. These installations, a cross between a military depot and an underground bunker, are almost self-contained worlds.
One of them, GP 506, has stopped sending messages to headquarters. An experienced MP investigator Sergeant Noh (
Cheon Ho-jin, "
A Dirty Carnival") and a cynical medical officer (
Lee Jeong-heon,
"Humming", "...
MoreBy Nigel D'Sa
Contributing Writer
The 9th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) is nearing, and an impressive line-up of films has been announced for this year's event.
Set in its picturesque namesake city in Jeollabuk-do (province), JIFF runs May 1-9, bringing together innovative and independent films and filmmakers from around the world.
This year's program boasts a record total of 169 films with opening night going to Manda Kunitoshi's The Kiss in its International Premiere.
Japanese writer-turned-director Manda has already gained notice and won prizes at Cannes for his previous films, making this latest work highly anticipated.
JIFF's curtain-closer will be the Korean omnibus film "If You Were Me 4", produced by the National Human Rights Commission.
Each film in the series has a human rights issue as its theme with past concerns ranging from discrimination to forced surgery and bringing together a group of talented directors.
This year's project features five shorts on the theme of contemporary Korean youth and the stress of education and growing up.
The participating directors were
Bang Eun-jin ("
Princess Aurora"),
Kim Tae-yong ("Family Ties" - "
The Birth of a Family"),
Lee Hyeon-seung ("
Il Mare"),
Jeon Gye-soo ("
The Ghost Theater") and
Yoon Seong-ho ("
Milky Way Liberation Front").
JIFF has renamed its 'Indie Vision' section the 'International Competition' section, raising its profile and adding a second-best film prize, the 'Daum Special Jury ...
More9th Jeonju International Film Fest Opens May 1-9
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Before Busan welcomes Asia's largest film event Pusan (Busan) International Film Festival (PIFF) each fall, Jeonju, the traditional arts hub of the nation, becomes a cinephile's paradise in the spring.
The 9th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) brings 195 movies from 40 nations beginning May 1 through 9. JIFF, while large in scale like PIFF, offers a more intimate and homey environment.
While most international film festivals usually boast the number of world or international premieres, JIFF focuses on sharing high quality films, both old and new, that moviegoers may not be able to see outside of a film festival, festival programmer Jeon Su-wan said in a press conference earlier this month.
Film Feast
The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at Sori Arts Center. This year's opening film is "The Kiss" by Kunitoshi Manda. On May 1, local film buffs will be able to appreciate the international premiere of the latest work by the Japanese director. He became well known in the international film circuit when his film "Unloved" (2001) won the International Critic's Award at the Cannes festival in 2001.
"The Kiss" is about an ordinary career woman who becomes drawn to a murderer. Despite the worries of the killer's lawyer, she approaches the killer and the two start corresponding. The film traces delicate human relationships and all its melodrama, all the while expressing ― or suppressing ― emotions with restraint.
The closing film this year is an omnibus project, "If You Were Me 4". This is the fourth in a series of movies commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. Five directors bring five different stories exploring human rights, particularly that of teenagers. Far from being gloomy, comedy and drama abound in the omnibus movie. In 2003, renowned directors like
Park Chan-wook and
Lim Soon-rye participated in the making of the first in the series, "If You Were Me".
The festival features three main programs. In the International Competition, 12 young, up and coming directors from Iran ...
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