Secret Sunshine (Movie - 2007)

PiFan Shorts Jury and Industry Program Announced

Source | 2009/06/06 | Permalink |

The upcoming Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) (July 16 – 26) has announced the members of its Puchon Choice Shorts jury. Invited to the 13th edition are actor-director YANG Ik-joon, whose debut feature "Breathless" won the top Tiger award at Rotterdam this year, and LEE Hanna, the producer of "Secret Sunshine", a Cannes winner last year. The foreign jury member is Todd Brown, founder and editor of the popular film website, Twitch (http://www.twitchfilm.net).

The short films this year will include the animated short, "Dust Kid" by director JUNG Yu Mi. The short was screened in the prestigious Director's Fortnight program at Cannes last month. It will compete for an array of prizes totaling over $US 10,000 in the categories Best Short Film, Jury's Choice for Short Film, Citizen's Choice for Short Film, and the Best Korean Short Film.

Also announced is the special industry program "New-Type SF Movie: Beyond Limitation" an educational platform for PiFan's ...| More

Korean Movie "Thirst" Wins Cannes Award

Source | 2009/05/25 | Permalink |

The new movie "Thirst" by Korea's renowned director Park Chan-wook won one of the three main awards of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.
The film a dark story about a priest-turned-vampire who struggles against his bloodthirsty instincts won the jury prize at the Cannes on Sunday being praised as a "unique noir film" by jurors.
This marks Park Chan-wook's second Cannes award after he took home the Grand Jury Prize with the revenge thriller "Old Boy" in 2004.
This win represents his third prize at an international film festival as his science fiction comedy "I'm a Cyborg, But That's Ok" garnered him the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2007.
In his acceptance speech Park said that for him the joy of creating is the main engine that enables him to make movies adding that he wants to share the honor with his close friend and colleague Song Kang-ho who starred in the movie.
Eight Korean movies have been entered as candidates at the Cannes Film Festival and "Thirst" has b...| More

'Thirst' Wins the Jury Prize at Cannes

Source | 2009/05/25 | Permalink |

Director Park Chan-wook's latest film "Thirst" has won the Jury Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival. The award is his second honor at Cannes, following the Grand Prix in 2004 for his cult classic "Old Boy". At its Cannes presentation the powerful and enigmatic story of a priest-turned-vampire received mixed reviews. Some have rated it the best film of the year, while some were skeptical about the overly complex symbolism of the film. Nonetheless, all members of the jury agreed that the film left a very powerful and lasting impression on the audience.

"Thirst" is one of four Korean movies that won awards in the festival's competitive section. The first one was venerable director Im Kwon-taek's "Strokes of Fire", which garnered the Best Director Prize in 2002. Two years later director Park Chan-wook won the Grand Prix for "Old Boy", followed by actress Jeon Do-yeon's Best Actress Award in 2007 for her impressive performance in "Secret Sunshine".

Meanwhile, the Palme d'O...| More

Korean film 'Thirst' wins Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival

Source | 2009/05/25 | Permalink |

Korean film "Thirst" ("Bakjwi" in Korean), directed by Park Chan-wook, clinched the Jury prize at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.

"Thirst", the story of a priest-turned-vampire struggling with his physical desires, won the third-highest honor in the French movie contest, which closed on May 24.

This is director Park's second award at Cannes, one of the world's most renowned film festivals.

Park Chan-wook had previously won the Grand Jury Prize in 2004 for his film "Oldboy".

Following his acceptance of the award, Park told the audience at the awards ceremony that he enjoys filmmaking from beginning to end and he is just happy to be able to make films.

He added that he wishes to share the award with his dearest friend and colleague, Song Gang-ho, who played the lead in "Thirst".

"Thirst" tells the story of a Catholic priest who becomes a vampire after being given a strange blood transfusion during a medical experiment, and who starts a dangerous love affair with his frie...| More

'Thirst' Wins Jury Prize

Source | 2009/05/25 | Permalink |

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

The dark vampire thriller "Thirst", directed by Park Chan-wook, won the Jury Prize at the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival in France, Sunday.

Park shared the festival's third place award with British director Andrea Arnold's teen drama "Fish Tank". The festival's top prize Palme d'Or was given to "The White Ribbon", a film about brutality in a 20th-century German town by Austrian director Michael Haneke.

"I think I still have a long way to go before I become a true artist. I must admit I have yet to experience the pangs of creation. All I have experienced is the joy of creation. When my first two films bombed at the box office, it was a long time before I could make this third feature. So this is an immense pleasure for me, from the conception of the film to its release ― except for the interviews. It's the last step for a film to be screened at the Cannes Festival", Park said after receiving his award.

The win was...| More