With a Girl of Black Soil (Movie - 2007)

44 Korean Films at the 2009 Marrakech International Film Festival

Source | 2009/11/19 | 0 comments | Permalink |

In a celebration of Korean film, a record 44 will screen at this year's 2009 International Film Festival of Marrakech. In addition, representatives from Korean government organizations, the Korean film industry: producers, directors, actors and film festival delegates will be in attendance. The festival, which began in 2000 has in the past focused on the national cinemas of Italy, Egypt and Spain. This year, signaling the growing importance of Korean film and certainly spurred by recent successes such as BONG Joon-ho's "Mother - 2009" and PARK Chan-wook's "Thirst", the festival turns its eyes to South Korea.

A whole host of Korean directors will accompany their films to the festival: IM Kwon-taek, the godfather of Korean cinema with "Surrogate Mother" (1986), "Seopyeonjae" (1993) "Chihwaseon" ("Strikes of Fire" - 2002) and more; LEE Do-yong "The Oldest Son" (1984); LEE Chang-ho "The Man with Three" Coffins (1988); JANG Sun-woo "Lies" (1999) and other directors; PARK Chan-wook "T...| More

North American Tour of Jeon Soo-Il's Retrospective launches in Montreal and inviration

Source | 2009/11/19 | 0 comments | Permalink |

North American Tour of Jeon Soo-Il's Retrospective launches in
Montreal, accompanied by Canadian independent short films

Award-winning Korean filmmaker Jeon Soo-Il arrives in Nov. 29th launching his acclaimed Retrospective Tour for the first time in North America!

Montreal, November 19, 2009 - Korean independent giant Jeon Soo-Il's works will be introduced to the North American public for the first time at the Cinémathèque Québécoise from November 26 to December 2. Jeon's films have been awarded and featured internationally in film festivals, including the Cannes International Film Festival (Wind Echoing in My Being, 1997), Venice International Film Festival (With a Girl of Black Soil, 2007) and Pusan International Film Festival (Himalaya, 2008). His energetic creativity never stops while teaching film production in Kyungsung University and currently is in production for his 8th film.

This retrospective will showcase Jeon's six films at the Cinémathèque Québécoise: "Himalay...| More

JEON Soo-il's Latest to Compete at San Sebastian

Source | 2009/09/01 | 0 comments | Permalink |

"I Came From Busan", the latest feature by indie auteur JEON Soo-il will screen in the Official Section competition of the 57th San Sebastian International Film Festival, running September 18 – 26 in northern Spain. It is one of 2 Asian features to compete in this year's festival, the other being Chinese director LU Chuan's "City of Life and Death".

JEON's previous films have fared well on the international festival circuit, with his 2007 feature "With a Girl of Black Soil" winning numerous prizes including at Venice, Pusan and Deauville. His 2009 release "Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells" screened in competition at the Karlovy Vary Int'l Film Festival.

"I Came From Busan" is about a woman giving up her baby for adoption. JEON, born in 1959, completed his masters and doctorate degrees in Film Science at the University of Paris 7 in Paris, France. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Theatre & Film of Kyungsung University and the president of Dongnyuk ...| More

Director Jeon Soo-il Talks About `Himalaya'

Source | 2009/06/17 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporters

Director Jeon Soo-il can be grouped among "the Kim Ki-duk clan" of artists who are better appreciated in the international film festival circuit than in local theaters.

His latest film "Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells" is slated to compete in July _ when he turns 50 _ at the 44th Karlovivary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic. This means that all six of Jeon's features will have been invited to major cinema events.

But as much as the film, now showing in theaters, marked the comeback of "Old Boy" star Choi Min-sik, its press preview attracted a mad crowd of reporters (Some 20 people had turned up for his previous multiple award-winning "With a Girl of Black Soil").

The aforementioned Kim is known to provoke onscreen, and Jeon also does not hesitate to depict shocking characters that take performance art to an extreme degree and commit suicide on stage ("I Have the Right to Destroy Myself").

"I had Choi Min-sik in mind when ...| More

Choi Min-sik Escapes Oncreen to 'Himalaya'

Source | 2009/05/31 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Actor Choi Min-sik has returned to local screens to take the audience on a faraway journey to "Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells", which opens in theaters June 11.

The actor is virtually synonymous with contemporary Korean cinema, with the so-called "first" domestic blockbuster "Shiri" (Swiri) (1998) to Im Kwon-taek's award-winning "Chihwaseon" ("Strokes of Fire", 2002) and Park Chan-wook's international breakthrough "Old Boy" (2003). He was also accused of upping guarantees for high-profile actors, though Kang Woo-suk later rescinded the statement and apologized.

The 47-year-old may have been absent from the silver screen for four years, but his presence remained strong ― in 2007, he showed off his theatrical streak in the play "Pillow Man" while last year the 14th Lyon Asian Film Festival held a retrospective on Choi.

"Expression (acting) itself is important, but the process of absorbing things before taking part in a project is vital. ...| More