The 2011 Gwacheon International SF Festival opens with 3D "Ghost in the Shell"

The 2nd Gwacheon International SF Festival in Korea opens today (Sept. 30) with the Japanese animation Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society 3D directed by Kenji KAMIYAMA. The festival will run until Oct 16 at the Gwacheon National Science Museum. It aims to encourage creativity and imagination in children by combining "scientific imagination and filmic imagination".

This year's Gwacheon International SF Festival will screen 57 films from 17 countries. The selection ranges from humorous and imaginative short films to animation features such as "Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below", directed by Makoto SHINKAI, and "Welcome to the Space Show", directed by Koji MASUNARI. The festival will also screen live action sci-fi feature films such as Quee-hyun KONG's Korean film "U.F.O". and Evan Kelly's Canadian film "The Corridor".

In addition, the festival will feature SF classic masterworks such as the 1960 film "The Time Machine", directed by George PAL, Steven Spielberg's 1977 film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", William Cameron MENZIES' 1936 film "Things to Come" and George Lucas' feature debut film "THX 1138".

The 2011 Gwacheon International SF Festival in Korea plans to provide a festive environment combined with science, culture and education. So the festival will also include a workshop where children can create animation films, an FX conference on advanced video technologies by top VFX specialists, and cinema talks with filmmakers and actors.

In step with its educational initiatives, the festival's other events also include a variety of programs such as a hypothetical news reporting and imaginative essay contests, an earthquake and Typhoon experience, an SF book festival, a volcano experience and various other learning experiences.