Noh Young-seok (노영석)

High Profile Korean Films at the New Zealand International Film Festival

Source | 2009/07/24 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The NZ International Film Festival has always shown a large amount of Korean films. The 5 acclaimed Korean features this year however have already racked up awards and played at festivals around the globe.

First up and most recently is BONG Joong-ho's "Mother - 2009" which opened in Cannes to rave reviews and stampeded at the box office when it came to Korea. Both "Mother - 2009" and Cannes winner PARK Chan-wook's "Thirst" together accumulated a large volume of sales at the festival. Also playing at the NZ festival is the farmer-and-his-cow documentary "Old Partner" which, as an independent, came from obscurity and gained a total of 2 million local viewers. Another sleeper hit included is NA Hong-jin's "The Chaser" that won the 'Best of Pucheon' award at last year's Pucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and has since gone on to play in other territories. Korean American, KIM So-yong's auto-biographical second feature, drama "Treeless Mountain" after opening the 16th A...| More

Korean Line-up at Fantasia Int'l Film Fest

Source | 2009/07/06 | 0 comments | Permalink |

North America's largest genre film fest, the Fantasia International Film Festival boasts an impressive line-up of notable Korean films this year; among them the North American premiere of PARK Chan-wook's Cannes-winning vampire drama, "Thirst". Held annually in Montreal, Canada, the event will run from July 9 – 29 at several theaters in the city.

Along with PARK's latest is "Crush and Blush", a film he produced for debut director LEE Kyoung-mi. Two int'l festival favorites, NOH Young-seok's micro-budget but acclaimed debut, "Daytime Drinking", and JANG Hoon's "Rough Cut" will screen. Both films have had their Canadian rights bought by Canada's Evokative Films which plans to release "Rough Cut" in Canadian theaters in January of 2010.

Rotterdam winner "Breathless" by YANG Ik-joon will screen along with sleeper hit of 2008, "The Chaser" by NA Hong-jin. LEE Yoon-ki's Seoul odyssey, "My Dear Enemy" and KWAK Jae-yong's Japanese made "Cyborg, She", were also invited. Other film...| More

Breathless wins gold in Barcelona

Source | 2009/05/19 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Critically acclaimed Korean independent feature film "Breathless" triumphed again in Europe. This time, YANG Ik-joon's drama received the Golden durian award at the 11th Barcelona Asian Film Festival (BAFF).

On the closing day of the festival – 10 May 2009 – BAFF praises "YANG Ik-joon's brilliant debut", his versatility, and his captivating portrayal of domestic violence. The prize includes six thousand Euro for YANG's future project.

NOH Young-seok's "Daytime Drinking" received a special mention from the D-Cinema section jury. "(...) for his unquestionable talent creating a simply hilarious film".

While "Breathless" is a study of domestic violence in Korea, "Daytime Drinking" takes on Korea's drinking culture in a humorous way. Both films are exemplary of Korea's current influx of fresh blood into the film scene, and new heights of Korea's independent cinema domestically as well as internationally.

Yi Ch'ang-ho...| More

Korean Films Continue to Rate Highly with Korean Audiences

Source | 2009/05/08 | 0 comments | Permalink |

There are few surprises in KOFIC's latest report analyzing audience tastes from 1998 to 2008: 45.9% of Koreans prefer Korean films while 36.5% are said to prefer U.S films. While 10% of audience members surveyed had no preference where a film was made only a tiny number, 2.6% preferred European films, the same amount preferred Chinese/Hong Kong films and 1.7% was left to Japanese films.

What is a little surprising is the divide, albeit not significant, between what audiences say they watch and what they actually watch. Here, U.S films come out on top taking up 48.4% of the box office with Korean films coming in at 42.5%. Together they make up 90.8% of the box office leaving the remains for all other countries' films. Given the international predominance of U.S films, such a figure for local films at the box office still remains high only matched by markets such as Bollywood.

A summary of audience taste for genre unsurprisingly comes out with action and comedy leading the p...| More

Director Hong Invited as Judge in Locarno Fest

Source | 2009/05/07 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

South Korean director Hong Sang-soo has been invited to be a judge at the Locarno International Film Festival in Italy, festival organizers announced Thursday. The 62nd edition of the premier Italian film festival will open in Locarno, Switzerland, from August 5 to 15.

The "Night and Day" director will judge films in the International Competition section alongside French screenwriter and filmmaker Pascal Bonitzer, noted German actress Nina Hoss and Catalan producer Luis Minarro.

Meanwhile, Hong's latest short film "Lost in the Mountains" was featured as part of an omnibus digital project in the 10th Jeonju International Film Festival, "the Locarno of Asia", which ends today. "Like You Know It All", the latest feature by the minimal realist, starring top local stars Ko Hyeon-jeong and Kim Tae-woo, will be shown in the out-of-competition section of the Cannes Film Festival, from May 13 to 24.

Last year, Korean newcomer Noh Young-seok received sp...| More