| SONG Il-gon portrays Koreans in swinging Cuba
(Source) |
2009/11/13 |
International film festival favorite SONG Il-gon returns with another small scale film. This time he tries his hand at documentary making. "Dance of Tiime" features Koreans whose parents left for Cuba in the Joseon era.
They always dreamed of returning to Korean soil, but none of them ever fulfilled that desire. SONG interviews the Korean-Cubans whose Cuban side is partly reflected in their passion for Latin dances. The documentary will be released on 3 December.
SONG is far from a commercial director and his projects struggle to get financed. He is widely recognised for his artistic and experimental qualities. His latest film "The Magicians" dates from 2005. He also directed "Spider Forest", "Feathers in the Wind" and "Flower Island".
Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC)... |More
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| "Treeless Mountain" in Competition at FILMeX (Source) |
2008/11/26 |
Busan-born Korean-American director KIM So-yong's second feature "Treeless Mountain" will compete in this year's prestigious Tokyo FILMeX International Film Festival alongside 9 other carefully selected films. The 9th edition of FILMeX runs Nov. 22 – 30 and offers a cash award of 1,000,000 yen to the grand prize winner.
South Korean director SONG Il-gon was invited to join the jury this year and will sit alongside Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka-Fai (Election); Teruyo Nogami, of Kurosawa Production Co.; French film critic Isabelle Regnier; and Leon Cakoff, a Brazilian film critic and director. SONG has directed several film festival favorites including "Flower Island" (2001), "Spider Forest" (2004), and "Feathers in the Wind" (2005).
KIM's "Treeless Mountain" was selected in the 2005 Pusan Promotion Plan, had its world premiere at the 2008 Toronto IFF, and screened recently in Pusan. It is KIM's first film to be shot entirely in Korea with a Korean cast. It tells the story of... |More
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| My Friend and His Wife Finally Released (Source) |
2008/11/19 |
Two years after premiering at the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), where it received rave reviews, SIN Dong-il's sophomore feature is finally receiving its local release. "My Friend and His Wife" opens November 27 through producer and distributor Prime Entertainment.
The film stars JANG Hyeon-seong ("Feathers in the Wind") as Ye-jun, the best friend of Jae-moon, played by PARK Hee-soon ("Seven Days"). The latter's wife, Ji-sook, is played by newcomer HONG So-hee. The trio traverse a landscape of ethical and personal challenges during the film's running time.
Amidst the praise it generated at PIFF, Variety film critic, Derek Elley was most exuberant, calling the film, "Superbly honed at every level, with dialogue, performances and direction meshing in a seamless, apparently effortless flow", adding that the director's second film should "put Shin's name on the international map".
Writer-director SIN made his feature debut with "Host and Guest" in 2005, premieri... |More
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| [THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(25)] Hallyu: the Koreanization of world culture (Source) |
2008/03/21 |
In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the 25th in a series of essays by a select group of scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.
"Hallyu", or the Korean Wave, marks the long overdue re-emergence of Korean culture into the global arena. Korean culture's newfound international vogue situates South Korean cinema, TV melodramas, K-pop, and computer games as active participants in the transformation of world culture.
These "domestic" electronic audio-visual cultural creations are no longer limited to just the Korean peninsula and the global Korean diaspora despite that they are produced in the Korean language - a language that is not one of the globalized imperial languages such as English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese.
Despite this linguistic barrier, hallyu is now a recognized agent of gl... |More
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| MOON Seong-geun Cast in SONG Il-gon Horror (Source) |
2008/02/26 |
Acclaimed actor MOON Seong-geun will take the lead role in "Sahwa" (meaning 'Royal Massacre') a horror from Cannes winning director SONG Il-gon. MOON has been a notable figure in the Korean film industry since the 1990's, when he starred in films by top new wave directors, PARK Kwang-soo ("Black Republic"), JANG Sun-woo ("Road to the Racetrack"), and in LEE Chang-dong's debut film "Green Fish".
MOON also provided memorable performances in such films as HONG Sang-soo's "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors" and PARK Chan-ok's "Jealousy is My Middle Name". He came late to his acting career, having first spent time as a business man in Saudi Arabia. Throughout the 90's he was deeply involved in supporting the Korean film industry and served as Vice-chairman of the Korean Film Council in 1999.
In SONG's fifth feature, a Chosun dynasty-set tale of bloody power games between rival families, MOON will play the central role of a king beset by curses and vengeful murders. Supporti... |More
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