Old Partner (Movie - 2008)

"Old Partner" to Open in Japan

Source | 2009/10/22 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The sleeper surprise of early 2009, documentary "Old Partner" is to get a limited release in Japan this December. Korean sales and distribution company Indiestory announced that Siglo, the Japanese exhibitor that picked up rights to the film, will release it on three screens in the bustling Tokyo boroughs of Shibuya, Ginza and Shinjuku.

The low-budget HD documentary, directed by LEE Chung-ryoul, follows the daily hardships and humors of an old farmer, his feisty wife, and their long-serving but old and ailing cow. The film drew an unexpected 3 million admissions at the start of the year becoming both the highest grossing documentary and independent Korean film released locally.

Indiestory also announced sales deals for "Old Partner" to Taiwan and HK/China at the Asian Film Market, a business hub that runs in tandem with the Pusan Int'l Film Festival that wrapped up Oct 16.

Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)...| More

Korean Sales Deals at Pusan

Source | 2009/10/16 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The Asian Film Market, an all-round business hub for the Asian film industry, wrapped up October 14 after a four-day run during Korea's Pusan International Film Festival (Oct. 8 – 16). Korean sales companies reported a number of deals during the market, though sales were fewer than in previous years.

M-Line Distribution sold its titles "A Frozen Flower" and "Le Grand Chef 2: Kimchi Battle" to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Mirovision sold last year's horror hit "Deathbell" to Thailand, Japan, and France, and "Loner" to Thailand. Indiestory sold Korea's surprise documentary smash hit "Old Partner" to Taiwan.

Meanwhile CJ Entertainment is in the process of concluding sales deals of festival opener "Good Morning President", comedy-caper "Killer Bride's Perfect Crime", and BONG Joon-ho's "Mother - 2009" to Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and France. Also, P.A.M. Korea Media is concluding deals for "Bloody Shake" to Taiwan, India, France, Australia, and England.

N...| More

'A Second Old Partner' can be made on the back of multi-platform

Source | 2009/10/15 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Success of low-budget independent films in 2009 such as 'Breathless', 'Daytime Drinking', and 'Old Partner' has brought a ray of hope that 'Independent films can reach a variety of audiences'. 'A Seminar on Korea's Independent Film-Publicness of Multiplatform Market' was a place for those in the indie film industry to think about how to transform such hope into a reality. The seminar took place as part of official programs at PIFF (Pusan International Film Festival) on Oct. 13 at Culture Hall, Centum City of Shinsegye.
Irreverent to the theme in some way, what was really discussed was how copyright of an independent film should be protected and how to pay it what it deserves and to distribute it.

Kim Dong-hyun, director of SIFF(Seoul Independent Film Festival) said in the seminar emceed by Kim Myong-jun, director of Media Center, " 'A Report on The Current Status on Independent Film in the Multi-platform in 2009' shows that channels for accessing independent films are becoming rap...| More

TV Program Guide During 'Chuseok'

Source | 2009/09/29 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

The "Chuseok" weekend is just around the corner and both major and cable broadcasters have prepared various programs for friends and family to enjoy.

Special Programs

KBS is traveling back in history to explore the ancient boat that carried celadon porcelain a thousand years ago with their special program "Goryeo Celadon Porcelain; Temptation of Green Celadon". The program searches for the ancient route the famous porcelain traveled, along with the reason why it was so popular in China and Japan. "Goryeo" will air Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. on KBS.

"A Lecture from Heaven" will feature violist Richard Yongjae O'Neill's trip to a small village in South Chungcheong Province. The students live in a small village where it is hard to visit even a museum, let alone a music concert. O'Neill teaches them the basics of classical music and holds a small concert with them. "A Lecture From Heaven" will air Oct. 2 at 11:15 p.m.

Meanwhile, SBS is offering "Tastin...| More

'It's the Golden Era of Documentary Films'

Source | 2009/09/23 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

For renowned movie director and critic Thom Anderson, documentary films are the most powerful medium revealing the lives and cultures of other people.

Anderson, the head judge of the EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF), says he enjoys watching and making documentaries because of their very nature.

"There was a certain period when people didn't like the word documentary. They thought it was limiting, but I was always proud to be a documentary filmmaker", he said in an interview at the EBS headquarters in southern Seoul, Monday.

"For me, cinema is a way of revealing life, showing people how others live and also different cultures. When filmmakers can say `none of this is made up and they all come directly from life', that connection is particularly strong, and this (connection) can be found in documentary films", he said.

Andersen is also a professor at the California Institute of the Arts. He won the National Film Board Award for...| More