Ra Hee-chan (라희찬)

In Jeonju, spring brings wonderful films

2008/04/19 | Source | Permalink |

By 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 fe...| More

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Korean Films Premiering at 9th JIFF

2008/04/16 | Source | Permalink |

Ten Korean features will have their World Premiere at the Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) this spring. Now in it's 9th edition the festival will run May 1st – 9th in the attractive and historical city of Jeonju, in North Jeolla province.

Korean highlights include documentary director KIM Dong-won's latest, "63 Years On", about the 'comfort women' enslaved by the Japanese military in stations across Asia during WW2. The film provides an historical investigation along with interviews with victims still living in Korea, China, and the Philippines. KIM is best known for his 2003 film Repatriation which raised the documentary genre to commercial prominence in South Korea.

In the Korean Cinema on the Move section, presents 10 new independent features mostly by debut directors. Among the most interesting are "Synching Blue" by SEO Won-tae, a director whose shorts films have garnered praise for their visual arrangements. This HD feature is about a man who seeks comfort i...| More

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MaxMovie Film Awards– "The Day of Park Cheol-min" (Bae Dae-ro from the drama "New Heart")

2008/02/21 | Source | Permalink |

On the red carpet of the "5th MaxMovie Film Awards", the drama "New Heart"'s golden supporting actor, Park Cheol-min received the warmest welcome from the fans.

In Gun-dae Lotte Cinema, the "5th MaxMovie Film Awards" took place on 14th with a high attendance from many stars, directors, audiences and fans.

Park Cheol-min, who is currently appearing in the drama "New Heart"'s as chief resident, Bae Dae-ro was chosen by the audience as the "Best male supporting actor", reflecting his enormous popularity among the fans. In a black suit with a red bow tie, he smiled and said his thanks, "I just couldn't believe how I am loved at the moment. "May 18" had over 7.5 million audiences, "New Heart" reached over 30% viewing rate and all my plays are sold out everyday. The fans are giving overwhelming love and supports. Rather than getting all these loves at once, I want to get them little by little over a long period of time".

On the one hand, Jeong Jae-yeong, who was awarded the "Best ...| More

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Trend in 2007 box-office success in Korean film industry, "The naming value of a star and the number of audience are in inverse proportion"

2008/01/07 | Source | Permalink |

"What is the interrelationship between the naming value of a star and the number of audience?"

In conclusion, the interrelationship is inverse proportion according to the trend in 2007 box-office success in Korean film industry. Among the 100 movies released this year, only 4 movies had more than 3 million audiences, including "D-War" (8 million), "May 18" (7 million), "Voice of Murderer" (3.25 million) and "Le Grand Chef" which recently reached 3 million.

Among many movies that went into the black, following are those which closely reached the break-even point, including "Miracle on 1st Street" (Im Chang-jeong and Ha Ji-won), "Voice of Murderer" (Seol Kyeong-gu and Kim Nam-joo), "May 18" (Kim Sang-kyeong and Lee Yo-won), "D-War" (Jason Behr), "Paradise 1986" (Park Hae-il and Seong Ji-roo), and "Le Grand Chef" (Kim Kang-woo and Lee Ha-na). Among the 100 movies released this year, only 7% made a profit.

However, all movies that drew attention for top stars' appearance have fa...| More

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Chungmuro's "multimedia", director Jang Jin

2007/11/07 | Source | Permalink |

Director Jang Jin has made it big once again. His latest comedy 'Going by the Book' topped the box office in its first week and attracted 1.2 million viewers in ten days. It was number one in advance tickets on all reservation sites in the fourth week of October and has topped the box office for the second week. Jang's witty script about a mock bank robbery drill, coupled with new face Ra Hee-chan's directing and Jeong Jae-yeong's seasoned acting, has grabbed audience attention. The film received a record score for a comedy in a preview screening. And since being released, word-of-mouth praise continues to spread.

Charismatic head of Filmitsuda

Jang's prominent talent has been recognized in his work in both theater and cinema. He first made his name on stage when he won the 1995 Chosun Ilbo daily's literary contest in the drama category, after which he staged successive quality productions that won both critical and commercial acclaim. His first step in film was his participatio...| More

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