Breath (2007) - 숨 (Soom)

2008/05/15 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The 61st Cannes Film Festival has kicked off with fanfare, spicing up the festive mood for moviegoers all around the world. The ebullient mood remains largely the same here in Korea, but one thing is palpably different: There's no chance for a Korean movie or actor grabbing an award in the competition section this year.

Last year was special for the Korean film industry. Jeon Do-yeon won the prestigious best actress award for her impassioned role in the heart-wrenching flick "Secret Sunshine". This year, however, such dramatic development is unlikely to occur because no Korean film has been invited to the competition section.

But it is too early to shift attention from Korean filmmakers toward Hollywood stars. After all, five Korean movies are to be screened in various sections at Cannes, and all of them have a potential to charm foreign filmmakers, critics and media in various ways.

At the forefront stands director Kim Ji-woon's big-budget flick "The Good, the Bad, the Weird"...

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2008/05/08 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The Barcelona Asian Film Festival's (BAFF) jury awarded "Secret Sunshine" (Miryang) the Cinematik prize. The winner of Cinematik is also secured of a release in Spain. "Secret Sunshine" is directed by LEE Chang-dong and stars JEON Do-yeon and SONG Kang-ho in a tale about a single mother's mental struggle after losing her young son.

Director JEON Soo-il is also successful at BAFF, his "With a Girl of Black Soil" won the Golden Durian, an award for emerging talents. The panel in charge of selecting the Golden Durian winner included Pusan International Film Festival director KIM Dong-ho.

Both "With a Girl of Black Soil" and "Secret Sunshine were selected" for the Official Competition section. The audience voted Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om (India) as the most popular film with KIM Ki-duk's "Breath" a close second, according to BAFF's website. BAFF celebrated this year its tenth anniversary and the festival highlighted that BAFF is Barcelona's fastest growing film festival. Barcelona h...

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2008/04/22 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

New Yorkers will be able to taste a series of artistic Korean movies made by director Kim Ki-duk from Wednesday (Apr. 23).

The Department of Film at New York's Museum of Modern Art, or MoMa, will hold a screening of the works of award-winning moviemaker Kim Ki-duk, 48, who has directed artistic yet controversial films since 1996.

During the exhibition at MoMa's Theater 1, co-organized by the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korean Film Council, and supported by the Korean Film Archive in Seoul, movie lovers will be able to take in a total of 14 movies directed by Kim, which will include several features never before seen in the United States, according to MoMa.

Kim is a self-taught maverick filmmaker whose works have impressed international cinema industry with a focus on symbolism and his strong sense of motifs and intensity.

He was a former factory worker, soldier, seminarian and a street artist in France between 1992 and 1995 where he discovered cinema thro...

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2008/03/14 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Now, there appears to be growing interest in Korean films overseas.
Domestic productions are winning critical acclaim at major film festivals in particular, in Europe.
Jeong Soyun explains.

Korean films are gaining increasing recognition on the international stage, winning numerous awards and honorable mentions in various film festivals.
Park Chan-wook's "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" received an Honorable Mention at the FantasPorto 2008, the 28th edition of the Oporto International Film Festival, which opened March 9th in Portugal.
The film takes place in a mental hospital, where a girl who thinks she's a cyborg falls in love with another mental patient.
Park is one of the most acclaimed directors in Korea today and is famous for his "vengeance trilogy", which includes the films "Old Boy" and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance".
The film "Breath" by director Kim Ki-duk is a story about a deathrow inmate who falls in love with a married woman.
It won the Jury's Special Award in the ...

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2008/03/13 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Director PARK Chan-wook's "I'm a Cyborg, but that's Ok" (Ssaibogeujiman Gwaenchana) received the Special Mention of the Jury at Fantasporto 2008. KIM Ki-duk won the Special Jury Award for "Breath" (Soom).

"I'm a Cyborg, but that's Ok" stars Im Soo-jeong and JUNG Ji-hoon (also known as the singer "Rain" (Bi)). The film is a romantic comedy, Park Chan-wook style. Taiwanese actor Chen Chang and the Korean actors HA Jeong-woo and PARK Ji-ah were casted by KIM Ki-duk for "Breath", a romantic drama set in a prison.

PARK got international attention with his 2000 hit "JSA - Joint Security Area" (Gongdong Gyeongbi Gooyeok/JSA) when it was invited by the Berlin International Film Festival in 2001. "JSA - Joint Security Area" won both the Blue Dragon Best Film Award and the Grand Bell Best Film Award, the two major Korean cinema awards, among a slew of other domestic and international awards.

Fantasporto is situated in the Portuguese harbour city Porto. The 28th edition ran from Febru...

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