Milky Way Liberation Front (Movie - 2007)

'If You Were Me 4', Omnibus Treat

Source | 2009/05/28 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

For its sixth omnibus feature film "If You Were Me 4", the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has brought together five directors to capture the magic and complexities of being a teenager. The closing film for the 2008 Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) makes a promising theatrical release June 4 despite tough competition with big Hollywood flicks.

Along with JIFF's popular digital franchise, the human rights project continues to positively contribute to the omnibus genre. In past years, directors such as Park Chan-wook participated ("If You Were Me", 2003), and this time Bang Eun-jin, Jeon Gye-soo, Lee Hyeon-seung, Yoon Seong-ho and Kim Tae-yong each offer a small gem of a piece.

Bang, who debuted with the bloody thriller "Princess Aurora", offers something bright in "Blue Birds on the Desk". The story itself is rather typical of 1990s TV dramas on growing pains, but cheerful melodies, school uniform-clad dance sequences and slight...| More

Jeonju Int'l Film Festival to celebrate 10th anniversary

Source | 2009/04/10 | Permalink |

Jeonju, a city about three hours southwest of Seoul, is known for its welcoming citizenry, its signature dish bibimbap (mixed rice and vegetables with gochujang, red pepper paste) and some of Korea's loveliest surviving pre-modern architecture and folk culture.

In Korea's beautiful springtime, the city with the heart of a small town gets more cosmopolitan as it hosts the Jeonju International Film Festival, commonly known as JIFF.

The festival has made its name by sticking to its principle of focusing on promising digital, independent and experimental films, whereas most international film festivals usually boast their number of world or national premieres.

The festival celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

The 10th Jeonju International Film Festival will be held from Apr. 30 through May 8, featuring 200 films from 42 countries.

The festival will open with "Short! Short! Short! 2009", a digital omnibus film about Korean society being obsessed with money.

The film,...| More

Jeonju Fetes Decade of Promoting Indie Cinema

Source | 2009/04/09 | Permalink |

10th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) to Be Held April 30-May 8

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

In 2000, Jeonju, a small town in North Jeolla Province with a reputation for traditionally Korean things, became home to one of the country's most future-thinking film festivals. Over the first decade of the new millennium, the Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) has grown to become a major attraction for independent and art house cinema ― as "the Locarno Film Festival of Asia".

JIFF celebrates its 10th birthday from April 30 to May 8 with a record lineup of 200 films from 42 countries. In addition to showcasing rare-to-see films from different corners of the world, various projects and events await festivalgoers for the special anniversary.

One of the JIFF's unique features is that it commissions special films for the annual event, festival director Min Byung-lock told The Korea Times, Tuesday, in Seoul. This year, Korea's Hong Sang-soo, Japan's Naomi Kawase...| More

Korean Film Festival to Kick Off in Washington DC

Source | 2009/04/01 | Permalink |

From April 17 to June 10, Smithsonian Museum's Sackler and Freer galleries will hold Washington DC's fifth Korean Film Festival. It was organized by Tom Vick, film programmer for the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution, and Hyunjun Min of the University of Maryland.

The annual Korean Film Festival in Washington, DC, seeks to acquaint a wide international audience with the flourishing Korean film industry. The festival will highlight the creative achievements of local Korean filmmakers. The festival is open to people of all cultures.

Throughout the Washington DC metro area, this year's festival films will be screened at a wide array of venues. All Smithsonian events are free, but tickets are required. Usually, these are given out at least one hour before a scheduled performance. Though for more popular events, lines have been known to form far in advance. You can reserve no more than two tickets at a time.

Other theaters than the Sackler and Freer galleri...| More

Indie Culture Redeems Past Glory

Source | 2009/02/26 | Permalink |

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

The local film and music industries are complaining of unprecedented slumps prompted by easier access to free downloads on the Internet that preludes the demise of the industries, separate from the global economic downturn.

However, the indie scene is turning the tables. Tens of thousands of people are flocking to theaters to see the low-budget film "Old Partner" everyday, while youngsters are queuing up to attend concerts by indie bands and buying their albums near the area around Hongik University known as Hongdae.

Why now? Partly it seems mainstream culture requires an infusion of new ideas and certainly the Internet has made even fringe culture easily available. But it is more plausible to say that people are eager to consume new and diverse content.

Rise of Indie Culture

Indie is a scene or an entire genre that includes music, movies and other facets of culture. It is characterized by its separation from commercial institutions and ...| More