Pruning the Grapevine (2006) - 포도나무를 베어라 (Po-do-na-moo-leul Be-eo-la)

2007/06/22 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Korean film "Pruning the Grapevine" (2006), by MIN Byeong-hoon, will screen in the Official Selection – Competition section of the 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The event which is held each year in the picturesque valley also known as Karlsbad, in the western province of Bohemia, Czech Republic, opens on June 29th for a nine-day run. A total of six Korean features will screen in various sections of the festival.

Grapevine director MIN is known to Karlovy Vary programmers, after his first film, "The Flight of the Bee" (1998, co-directed by Jamshed Usmonov) and his second, "Let's Not Cry", were screened at previous editions of the festival with the latter winning both a FIPRESCI award and a main jury Special Mention in 2002. Grapevine lead SEO Jang-won is also a familiar face at Karlovy Vary after his screen debut "The Unforgiven" was shown at last year's event.

"Pruning the Grapevine" was the recipient of KOFIC's Art Film Production Support program in 2005 a...

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2007/02/22 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

"Pruning the Grapevine" by director Min Byeong-hoon is a movie of a theological student who is swaying between love for God and secular love. Su-hyeon (played by Seo Jang-won) leaves his girlfriend Su-ah (played by Lee Min-jeong) and focuses on the theological school. But he is shaken upon receiving a wedding card from Su-ah. He tries to quit school, but the head of the school advises him to go to a monastery. There, he meets sister Helena (played by Lee Min-jeong) who looks exactly like Su-ah.

The movie focuses on fear and its heaviness. Characters deny and run away from their fears. The more they run, they face bigger fears. The movie implies that we can find peace and be saved when facing our greatest fears. Characters all face fears: Su-hyeon's girlfriend dies, the head of the school meets a girl who is about to die from a disease, and sister Helena meets Su-hyeon, who resembles her dead boyfriend.

Similar situations were also portrayed in Min's last movie. "The Flight of the...

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2006/11/29 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The Korean Film Council has announced the recipients of the second phase of its 2006 Marketing Support for Arthouse and Digital Films fund. The fund provides financial support to arthouse works or digital features to promote diversity on the nation's screens and to help such films compete in a marketplace with increasingly stringent commercial demands.

In the case of arthouse films, 50 million won (~$54,000) will be provided to pay for advertising and other kinds of marketing costs, including the cost of striking prints for release. In Korea's competitive distribution environment, low-budget works face a particularly difficult struggle in getting noticed by viewers, and so this fund is intended to provide assistance in this area. A total of 11 features were submitted for consideration

In the case of feature-length digital films, 25 million won (~$27,000) will be provided towards the rental of a DLP digital projector, so that such works can be screened in their original format. In...

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2006/11/03 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The 11th edition of the Pusan International Film Festival drew attention for its various industry sidebars and other events, but those festival attendees who focused on the program itself declared it to be a good year for new Korean films.

Independent filmmakers in particular turned out a large number of interesting projects, which look sure to turn up at other major international festivals in the coming months. Some examples include < "No Regret" >, the feature debut of acclaimed indie director LEE SONG-Hee-il, about a male escort who becomes romantically involved with a rich man. Apart from the critical praise it earned, international rights to the film was also picked up by Fortissimo – one of the arthouse world's most famous sales companies.

< Ad-Lib Night > by director LEE Yoon-ki, about a woman who agrees to "stand in" as the daughter of a dying man, was also warmly received. After debuting with the award-winning < This Charming Girl > in 2004, LEE returned with < "Love Tal...

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