The 11th Wisconsin Film Festival, held annually at the University of Wisconsin in the U.S., presents a 'Focus on South Korea' for its 2009 edition running April 2 – 5. Five critically acclaimed Korean features will screen during the event along with one Canadian-Korean short film.
Indie favorite "
Daytime Drinking" by
Noh Young-seok will screen, continuing its tour of international festivals after gaining attention at Jeonju, Busan and Toronto. Cannes winner "
Secret Sunshine" by
Lee Chang-dong, which won actress
Jeon Do-yeon a host of awards, was also selected.
Rounding out the focus is Korean-American director
Kim So-yong's second feature "
Treeless Mountain", which won best film at Dubai Int'l Film Fest, and was the director's first shot entirely in Korea;
Han Jae-rim's sophomore effort, comic-drama "
The Show Must Go on", starring
Song Kang-ho as a middling gangster; and Chinese-Korean director
Zhang Lu's second feature "
Grain in Ear", which won the New Currents award at Pusan.
Kai's Place, a short film by Canadian-Korean filmmaker Albert SHIN, will also screen in the focus. It tells the story of a young Westerner teaching English in Korea, who finds himself feeling lost and isolated in his urban surroundings.
Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)
