The President's Last Bang (Movie - 2004)

2nd Chungmuro Int'l Film Fest Kicks Off Sept. 3rd

Source | 2008/08/30 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The second edition of the Chungmuro International Film Festival in Seoul (CHIFFS) will bring a mixture of old and new to screens September 3rd, opening fittingly with director HIGUCHI Shinji's 2008 remake of a classic 1958 KUROSAWA Akira film, The Hidden Fortress. The curtain raiser and closing film will screen at the National Theater of Korea with the rest of the fest's 175 films screening at various venues across Chungmuro district, the traditional center of the Korean film industry.

This year adds a competition section to CHIFFS, bringing 13 contemporary features from around the world to compete for US$ 40,000 in prizes. Korean feature, Happiness by director HEO Jin-ho will participate in this section alongside Johnny TO's Mad Detective (Hong Kong) , Qunshu GAO's Old Fish (China), and ten others. Guests on the international jury include director of The Deer Hunter, Michael Cimino, and Korean director LIM Sang-soo.

Also of note is a special section celebrating the 40thannive...| More

"The President's Last Bang" Released in Japan

Source | 2007/12/26 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Lim Sang-soo's black comical take on the assassination of military dictator PARK Chung Hee "The President's Last Bang" has been released in Tokyo, Japan, on the 15th. From there the film will travel to other Japanese cities for screenings. The film stars HAN Seok-kyu and BAEK Yoon-sik.

Lim told Japanese fans that up until now "The President's Last Bang" is the film he wanted to make the most. The film was somewhat controversial in Korea, since it deals with a sensitive event in Korea's modern history. However, the film was praised by critics for its bold and humorous approach of the subject matter.

Writer/director Lim enriches Korean cinema by not shying away from possible controversial subjects. In "A Good Lawyer's Wife", he tackled the institution marriage and conservative concepts about relationships between men and women. With his latest "The Old Garden", he returned to Korea's tumultuous modern history by portraying a man who is released after seventeen years of imprisonme...| More

Baek Yoon-sik Cast in US-Korea Co-Production

Source | 2007/11/20 | 0 comments | Permalink |

An actor with inimitable screen presence, Korea's Baek Yoon-sik ("Tazza: The High Rollers" ("The War of Flower"), "The President's Last Bang", "Save the Green Planet") has caught the eye of filmmaker Nora Jacobson and has agreed to star opposite Amy Irving and Korean actress KIM Yoon-jin (ABC's Lost ) in "The Hanji-Box". Budgeted at under US$5 million, the US-Korea co-production will be the first ever to shoot primarily in Korea. The film is scheduled to shoot in Vermont, USA in April 2008 and then for about six weeks in Seoul during May and June.

Vermont-based independent filmmaker Jacobson ("Nothing Like Dreaming" (2004)) will direct the film based on her original screenplay. The story revolves around an American woman (Irving) who comes to Seoul in order to mend a relationship with her daughter, a Korean adoptee, played by KIM. While visiting a gallery, she grows interested in the work of a painter (Baek) whom she eventually meets and falls in love with.

The project wil...| More

Kim Tae-sik wins AAIFF Emerging Director Award

Source | 2007/08/07 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The 30th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) closed its 10-day run July 28th with director KIM Tai-sik picking up one of the events main awards. The Emerging Director in Narrative Feature Award was given to KIM for his feature debut "Driving With My Wife's Lover". The prize honors the best narrative feature film by a first or second-time narrative feature filmmaker.

KIM's road movie has traveled many miles. After its' festival launch and world premier at the Pusan International Film Festival last year, it went on to screen at top festivals around the world including the Berlinale, Buenos Aires, Sundance and Rotterdam. KIM also won the Best Director Award at Monaco's International Emerging Talent Film Festival, last May.

KIM, also co-scripted this black-comedy, in which small-town shop owner Tae-han learns that his wife is having an affair with Joong-sik, a Seoul taxi-driver. Intending to violently confront him, Tae-han goes to Seoul and hails Joog-sik's cab,...| More

Takeover of Korea's MK Pictures

Source | 2007/07/12 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The founders of major Korean film industry player MK Pictures, director KANG Je-gyu, CEO LEE Eun and president SHIM Jae-myeong, announced that they have sold their shares, worth 29% of the company, to a group of five investors. The group, headed by KIM Young-kun, paid US$16.3 billion for a controlling stake in the company.

MK Pictures, which put its shares on the stock market only 3 years ago, has in its catalogue some of the defining films in the rise of New Korean Cinema. Included are KANG Je-gyu's landmark local blockbuster "Shiri" and his follow-up "Taegukgi", as well as PARK Chan-wook's "JSA - Joint Security Area". Recent titles by MK include "A Good Lawyer's Wife", "Bloody Tie", and "The President's Last Bang" and "The Fox Family".

The investors consortium, headed by KIM, are associated with network television which may have strong implications for MK's future output. KIM is CEO of regional cable network operator Kang Won TV, based in Kangwon Province. KANG, LEE, a...| More