My Piano (2006) - 호로비츠를 위하여 (Ho-ro-bi-cheu-leul Wi-ha-yeo)

"Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family") Wins Top Prize at Home

2007/06/12 | Source | Permalink |

The nation's oldest film awards ceremony, the Grand Bell Awards, gave its top prize to low-key hybrid-family-drama "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family") , directed by KIM Tae-yong. The film, which has toured a number of international film festivals winning the top prize at the International Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece, also picked up a Grand Bell Best Screenplay award. The win was a happy surprise after many expected last summer's
blockbuster The Host to take top honors. "The Host" did however snatch up a Best Director award for BONG Joon-ho and Best Editing for KIM Sun-min.

Actress KIM Ah-Joong, whose fame is spreading like wildfire across south-east Asia, picked up the Best Actress award for her lead in the cutting-comedy "200 Pounds Beauty". The sleeper-hit also took away the Best Cinematography and Best Music awards for PARK Hyun-cheol and LEE Jae-hak respectively. Veteran star AHN Seong-gi received a Best Actor prize for his role in "Radio Star". "Tazza: Th...| More

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8 Korean Films Screen at China's Top Fest

2007/06/12 | Source | Permalink |

Seven South Korean features and one short film will be presented at this year's 10th anniversary edition of the Shanghai International Film Festival. China's top film event opens June 16th for a nine-day run.

Of the seven features, two have been selected in competition sections. Director LEE Joon-ik's "Radio Star" (2006) is nominated for the Jin Jue Award, while KWON Hyeong-jin's debut feature "For Horowitz" ("My Piano") is nominated for the Asia New Talent Award.

In the Panorama section a variety of genres in Korean film will be showcased including comedy sequel "Mapado 2: Back to the Island", director YOO Ha's gangster-drama "A Dirty Carnival", gothic-cult-musical Night Ballad For "The Ghost Theater", melodrama "Lost in Love" starring SEOL Kyeong-gu, and youthful comedy "Miracle on 1st Street" by YOON Je-Kyoon.

The short film selected is Soeyoun by KIM Jin-man, an environmentally-themed work using animation techniques. Korean star LEE Joon-ki ("The King and the Clown...| More

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44th Grand Bell Award Nominations

2007/06/05 | Source | Permalink |

One of South Korea's top two annual film awards ceremonies will take place June 8th in the city of Daejeon. The 44th Grand Bell Awards, which is televised nationally, will be accompanied by the week long Daejeon Film Festival which will showcase 66 domestic films including last year's sensational "The Host" and international film festival familiar "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family").

Last year, LEE Joon-ik's breakthrough commercial success "The King and the Clown" swept the awards. Popularity is an important factor in the Grand Bell Awards, and this year's nominations for Best Film are "Radio Star", "A Dirty Carnival", "200 Pounds Beauty", "The Host", and "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family"). The latter three also received Best Director nominations for KIM Yong-hwa, BONG Joon-ho, and KIM Tae-yong respectively, along with RYOO Seung-wan for "The City of Violence" and CHOI Dong-hoon for Tazza: The High Rollers" ("The War of Flower").

In the Best New Director category wer...| More

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Shanghai Selects Radio Star for Its Competition

2007/05/28 | Source | Permalink |

"Radio Star" has entered the Jin Jue Awards competition section of the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival. Shanghai will host the festival from June 16th until the 24th.

"Radio Star" is directed by LEE Joon-ik, and stars PARK Joong-hoon and AHN Seong-gi as two friends. PARK plays a rock star on his way down and AHN plays his loyal friend and manager.

Director KWON Hyeong-jin's "For Horowitz" ("My Piano") made the cut for the Asian New Talent Award Competition. UHM Jung-hwa portrays a frustrated piano teacher because of her failed career who encounters a highly talented young boy.

Former Korean winners at Shanghai are director IM Kwon-taek for "Sopyonje" and director E. J-yong (Lee Jae-yong) for "Untold Scandal". "Untold Scandal" also won the Best Music Award. Directors KWAK Gyeong-taek and BONG Joon-ho were appointed as judges at last year's edition.

The Shanghai International Film Festival is the only international film festival in China and a relatively new festi...| More

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Playing Monopoly With Park Yong-woo

2007/01/06 | Source | Permalink |

"I want to concentrate on playing Monopoly like a little child. I don't want to confine myself to one single image but want to evolve into an actor who can play a whole variety of characters". After almost two bottles of soju, Park Yong-woo, the star of the recently released thriller "The World of Silence", suddenly talks about Monopoly. His remarks may seem arrogant, but there is if anything a sense of inferiority behind them. Unlike some older actors who use their unhappy childhood experiences in their craft, he grew up in a comfortable home. His father was an engineering professor and his mother a music teacher. When he first chose acting, Park felt hampered by the fact that there simply wasn't any trauma he could capitalize on. Now 35, he has convinced himself that "objective imagination can be more important in popular art". In other words, he can act more objectively because he has no bitter experiences of his own.

Viewers rediscovered Park in his 2005 film "Blood Rain" for hi...| More

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