Beyond the Years (Movie - 2007)

Gyeonggi Province Aims to Become Film Hub

Source | 2009/02/02 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Gyeonggi Province is stepping up efforts to become a cinematic hub with actor Jo Jae-hyeon as its front man. The Gyeonggi Film Council named the top actor as its new chair Thursday to promote filmmaking in the region.

The 44-year-old star of the upcoming film "Marine Boy" accepted his two-year tenure at a ceremony Friday in downtown Seoul.

"This is a great honor and I hope the special guests with us today will serve as the council's advisory committee", said the versatile actor, who has appeared in art films such as Im Kwon-taek's "Beyond the Years" and hit TV soaps like "New Heart" (MBC).

Cineastes including directors Im Kwon-taek and Lee Joon-ik and actors Ahn Seong-gi, Choi Bool-am, Kang Soo-yeon, Cha Tae-hyeon and Park Si-yeon attended the event. Kim Moon-soo, governor of Gyeonggi Province, passed on the letter of appointment from director Lee Hyeon-seung to Jo.

"Gyeonggi Province is very rich; we spend 13 trillion won each year", sai...| More

8th Gwangju Int'l Film Festival Kicks Off

Source | 2008/12/09 | Permalink |

The 8th edition of the Gwangju International Film Festival (GIFF) opens Dec. 4 with curtain-raiser "The Code" by Japan's Kaizo Hayashi. The fest distinguishes itself from such heavyweights as Pusan and Jeonju by being a non-competitive five-day event that highlights emerging directors of recent years as well as unearthing classics from Korea and abroad.

The Korean Film Council and the Korean Film Archive are joint sponsors of the festival, which runs until Dec. 8 with a line-up of 40 films. A GIFF highlight is the retrospective on late Korean author LEE Chung-jun, with 5 features based on his works. They are "Oyster Village" (1972) by CHUNG Jin-woo, "Ieoh Island" (1977) by KIM Ki-young, and 3 features by IM Kwon-taek: "Seopyeonje" (1993), "Festival" (1996) "Beyond the Years" (2007) by IM Kwon-taek.

Films by two up-and-coming directors from Korea and Japan will screen under the heading 'Young Cinema Division'. They are "Still Strange" (2008) by LEE Hong-jae and "The Clone R...| More

Gwangju Int'l Film Festival to open Dec. 4

Source | 2008/12/01 | Permalink |

Many people talk about world-renowned international film festivals, such as Cannes, Venice or Berlin, where newly released films from around the world are premiered. Serious film fans also turn to their eyes to the Pusan International Film Festival, which has won international acclaim. Now it is the "Gwangju International Film Festival" that moviegoers must take seriously.

The "2008 8th Gwangju International Film Festival", or GIFF2008 for short, will kick off in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do (South Jeolla Province) on Thursday, Dec. 4 for a five-day run. It is a non-competitive film festival that does not premiere new films, but rather introduces up-and-coming film directors' movies, alongside old Korean and foreign classics that are still etched deep in fans' hearts.

The film festival, which will screen about 40 full-length and short films, will be organized by the Organizing Committee of the 2008 Gwangju International Film Festival under the joint sponsorship of the Korean Film Counci...| More

Korean Film Festival Tours China

Source | 2008/11/19 | Permalink |

A Korean Film Festival will be held across China this month, bringing 12 Korean features to three major Chinese cities – Beijing (Nov. 14-19), Shanghai (Nov. 16-21) and Kunnming (Nov. 25-28).

The event, organized by the Korean Film Council, China's state film authorities, and the Shanghai International Film Festival, brings a mix of critically and commercially successful Korean hits to local Chinese audiences.

Opening the festival is director LEE Joon-ik's rock-redemption comedy "The Happy Life" (2007). LEE Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine", which has won numerous awards including Best Picture at the 2007 Asia-Pacific Screen Awards and Best Actress at Cannes (for JEON Do-yeon) will also screen.

Other films in the touring festival include JEONG Yoon-cheol's "A Man Who Was a Superman", JANG Yoon-hyeon's "Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007", HEO Jin-ho's "Christmas in August" and IM Kwon-taek's "Beyond the Years".

Actor, JEONG Kyeong-ho will attend the Shanghai leg of the tour, repr...| More

KOFIC, Korea-China Interchange to Revitalize Two Industries

Source | 2008/11/12 | Permalink |

KOFIC (chairperson KANG Han-sup) is commencing two events in order to revitalize the film interchange between Korea and China.

First of the two events is '2008 Korea-China Business Campus' which will take place from Thursday, November 13 to Monday, November 17, over the course of 5 days. The event will mainly focus on the process of sharing films as well as co-production opportunities. This event first took place in 2006 in China, and then moved to Pusan International Film Festival in 2007 as a forum format, thus making this year's event second edition to be held in Korea. First annual event focused on the effect of Korean manpower and resources in Chinese film industry, while the current Business Campus will concentrate on not only the further advancements of above but how Korea and China can collaborate on projects that promote exchange of resources between the two countries. The event will hold pitching/mentoring sessions, seminars, business meetings for producers, production/po...| More