Samaria (2003) - 사마리아 (Sa-ma-ri-a)

Korean Movies to Shine at Int'l Film Fests

2008/06/30 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

South Korean movies continue to make their way around the globe to vie for prizes and reach a wider audience. Some notable trips to international film festivals include feted director Kim Ki-duk's latest work "Dream", the anticipated summer blockbuster "The Good, the Bad, the Weird", which received rave reviews at the Festival de Cannes in May, and creative animations and documentaries.

"Dream" (Bimong) by celebrated director Kim Ki-duk will contend for the Golden Shell at the 56th San Sebastian International Film Festival running Sept. 18-27, the festival announced recently (http://www.sansebastianfestival.com). It is the only Asian film in the competition pool against five other works. It is Kim's third work after "3-Iron" and "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring" to appear at the event. Kim has won the award for Best Director at Venice ("3-Iron") and Berlin ("Samaritan Girl" - "Samaria"), while "Breath" competed at Cannes.

Starring top...| More

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MoMa to screen works of award-winning director Kim Ki-duk

2008/04/22 | Source | Permalink |

New Yorkers will be able to taste a series of artistic Korean movies made by director Kim Ki-duk from Wednesday (Apr. 23).

The Department of Film at New York's Museum of Modern Art, or MoMa, will hold a screening of the works of award-winning moviemaker Kim Ki-duk, 48, who has directed artistic yet controversial films since 1996.

During the exhibition at MoMa's Theater 1, co-organized by the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korean Film Council, and supported by the Korean Film Archive in Seoul, movie lovers will be able to take in a total of 14 movies directed by Kim, which will include several features never before seen in the United States, according to MoMa.

Kim is a self-taught maverick filmmaker whose works have impressed international cinema industry with a focus on symbolism and his strong sense of motifs and intensity.

He was a former factory worker, soldier, seminarian and a street artist in France between 1992 and 1995 where he discovered cinema thro...| More

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[THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(32)] Spain discovers Korea and cries out for more

2008/04/22 | Source | Permalink |

In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the 32nd in a series of essays by a select group of scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.

Korea - both North and South - has long been unfamiliar to most Spaniards. Rising tensions between the two Koreas, derived mainly from nuclear development by North Korea, were the only news we heard from Korea. Before that, we knew a little about the Korean War in the 1950s, but did not know the cause of it.

In the 1960s, a famous comic depicting the war led by the "good" Americans against the "bad" communists was published and accepted by the anti-communist regime of Franco. This is how Spanish people of that era remember the Korean War.

But the majority of Spaniards may still have difficulty finding Korea on a world map. High-level visits from the King of Spain, poli...| More

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Kim Ki-duk's "The Isle" Selected a Most Difficult Movie

2008/04/17 | Source | Permalink |

Director Kim Ki-duk's "The Isle (Seom)" was selected as one of the 10 most difficult films to watch (but still insanely awesome) movies by Killer Film, an American online film site.

Coming in at ninth, "The Isle" is a strange love story between a prostitute and a man on the run from the cops. The movie had shocked the audience with some of the goriest scenes involving fish hooks and genital mutilation. The list proves that director Kim's films are too complex to understand for foreign audience as well. Kim has been known for his unique (and sometimes bizarre) interpretations of human nature. His other works include highly acclaimed "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring ", "Samaria", and "Bad Guy".

The film topping the 10 most difficult films to watch list was "Ichi, the Killer" directed by Japanese director Takashi Miike. Other films on the list include "Irreversable" with Monica Bellucci at second place, a mock documentary "Blair Witch Project" at fourth, and Gus Van Sant'...| More

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KIM Ki-duk's "Dream" to go to European Film Market

2008/01/30 | Source | Permalink |

Korea's Showbox, a film investment, distribution and sales company has picked up international sales rights to KIM Ki-duk's 15th feature film "Dream". The company will take the film and a handful of other titles to the European Film Market which runs alongside the Berlinale February 7 – 17.

KIM's "Dream" cranked out January 23 after a 3-week shoot in Seoul. The film is generating much buzz due to its high-caliber casting of top Korean actress LEE Na-young and male sensation Joe Odagiri from Japan. As with previous works, it will explore themes of dream, memory, love and the mystery of communication. In a bold experiment the film will have the lead couple speaking in two different languages yet understanding each other words.

Showbox holds sales rights on "Dream" for all territories outside Korea and Japan, where local distributor-exhibitor Sponge Entertainment and Japanese investor Stylejam own rights respectively. Sponge is set to release the film this Spring with a final...| More

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