Our School (Movie - 2006)

Pusan's Asian Cinema Fund Selects 25

Source | 2009/08/10 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The Pusan International Film Festival's organizing committee has announced the selection of 25 projects for its Asian Cinema Fund (ACF) 2009. Under three categories, Script Development, Post-Production, and Asian Network of Documentary(AND), ACF will support 10 Korean and 15 Asian projects.

ACF also announced the launch of 2 new funds which take effect in 2010. The first is the Overseas Korean Project Fund which is designed to assist Korean filmmakers residing abroad. KO Young-jae, CEO of Studio Nurimbo, which produced the hit documentary "Our School", initiated the fund. A total of US $83,000 will be made available.

Also added from next year is the AND Distribution Support fund, created by LEE Chung-ryoul, the star director of "Old Partner". His endowment of $83,000 will be used to to provide distribution aid to 1 Korean film and also to support acquisition of local distribution rights for 2 Asian films.

Among the notable Korean directors selected this year for ACF s...| More

Indie Culture Redeems Past Glory

Source | 2009/02/26 | 0 comments | 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

Word of mouth advertising attracts 100,000 to 'Old Partner'

Source | 2009/02/05 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The Korean documentary film "Old Partner" (directed by Lee Chung-ryul) has topped 100,000 in ticket sales thanks to word-of-mouth advertising. It's a record commercial success for a domestic independent film.

Distributor Indiestory says the film opened Jan. 15 in only seven theaters nationwide. It is now being screened in 38 and has been watched by 100,366 people in 19 days as of Monday.

The highest grossing Korean independent film to date is the 2007 documentary "Our School" by director Kim Myeong-joon, which attracted 55,000 moviegoers. Including community center and school screenings, the film was watched by 90,000 to 100,000 Koreans.

"Old Partner" is the story of a nearly 80 year old farmer, his wife and their 40 year old cow, their life companion of 30 years. Their real life story talks about aging, death and parting.

The heartwarming retrospective view of the old man and his cow's life story has earned critical acclaim and positive audience response. Eight more theate...| More

MaxMovie Film Awards– "The Day of Park Cheol-min" (Bae Dae-ro from the drama "New Heart")

Source | 2008/02/21 | 0 comments | Permalink |

On the red carpet of the "5th MaxMovie Film Awards", the drama "New Heart"'s golden supporting actor, Park Cheol-min received the warmest welcome from the fans.

In Gun-dae Lotte Cinema, the "5th MaxMovie Film Awards" took place on 14th with a high attendance from many stars, directors, audiences and fans.

Park Cheol-min, who is currently appearing in the drama "New Heart"'s as chief resident, Bae Dae-ro was chosen by the audience as the "Best male supporting actor", reflecting his enormous popularity among the fans. In a black suit with a red bow tie, he smiled and said his thanks, "I just couldn't believe how I am loved at the moment. "May 18" had over 7.5 million audiences, "New Heart" reached over 30% viewing rate and all my plays are sold out everyday. The fans are giving overwhelming love and supports. Rather than getting all these loves at once, I want to get them little by little over a long period of time".

On the one hand, Jeong Jae-yeong, who was awarded the "Best ...| More

2nd France-Korean Film Fest in Paris

Source | 2007/12/04 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The 2nd annual France Korean Film Festival (Festival Franco-Coréen du Film) will take place Dec 12 -18 in Paris. Presented in partnership with Association 1886, an organization of young students and filmmakers from France and Korea, the goal of the festival is to promote fresh and promising creative talent in Korea.

The event will screen ten features (five documentaries and five fiction works) from young directors along with ten short films. Included in this year's program are the award-winning festival favorite "Family Ties" ("The Birth of a Family") by KIM Tae-yong, Pusan premiere "Before The Summer Passes Away" by SEONG Ji-hye in her feature debut, YOON Jong-bin's "The Unforgiven" which screened in Cannes Un Certain Regard, NOH Dong-seok's Boys of Tomorrow.

Among documentaries in the program are the award-winning "Our School" by KIM Myeong-joon, "Taxi Blues" by CHOI-HA dong-ha, "Dear Pyongyang" by YANG Yeong-hee, and "Coreen 2495" by HA Jun-soo. Among short films are aw...| More