Korean Cinema News (08/15-08/21, 2011)

KOFFIA

More KOFFIA news this week including the MKC preview of the event which is set to kick off on the 24th in Sydney.

Closing Night Info

Time Out Profiles KOFFIA

Why You Shouldn't Dare Miss KOFFIA 2011! 

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Lots of festival news, especially regarding the once-again prolific Kim Ki-duk.

Montreal World Film Festival to Feature Two Korean Films
At this year's Montreal World Film Festival, two Korean films will be screened. They are Dance Town and Secrets, Objects. The MWFF is a good opportunity for people to see Korean films if they did not get a chance to at Fantasia, the screenings of which frequently sell out. (Montreal Gazette, August 13, 2011)

Busan Announces Selection for 30-Film Project
The Asina Project Market has selected 30 films for the Busan International Film Festival's Pusan Promotion Plan. Projects include the new Park Jung-bum and Park Chan-kyong films. (Film Business Asia, August 17, 2011)

Kim Ki-duk's Latest to Premiere at San Sebastian
Amen, a new film by Kim Ki-duk will get its world premiere at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The film was shot in Europe and depicts the mysterious journey of a young Korean girl and her meetings with a man on her trail. (Film Business Asia, August 17, 2011)

Info Gleaned From The Host's DVD Commentary Track
34 nuggests of information taken from the DVD commentary track to The Host (2006) with director Bong Joon-ho and revered critic Tony Rayns. (Film School Rejects, August 17, 2011)

Busan Fest Moves to New Location
The Busan Cinema Center, which will house the Busan International Film Festival, has nearly finished construction and is scheduled to open its doors on Sep.29, a week before the festival begins. (Joong Ang Daily, August 17, 2011)

Arirang Picks Up Grand Prix at New Horizons Film Fest
This yea'r s New Horizon Film Festival has awarded Kim Ki-duk's latest film Arirang its Grand Prize. The film beat out 11 other competitors at the Polish festival. (The Chosun Ilbo, August 18, 2011)

Blind Announced for Fantastic Fest in Austin
The second wave of the Fantastic Fest, which will take place in Austin, TX during September 22-29, will include the US premier of current Korean hit Blind. (Fantastic Fest, August 18, 2011)

Arirang to Screen at CinDi
The Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival welcomes Kim Ki-duk's latest oeuvre Arirang to its lineup as a surprise screening. This film the film's Korean premiere. (Film Business Asia, August 18, 2011)

The Servant to Be Revived as Mini-Series
Last year's phenomenal The Servant will breath life again as a mini-series on Korean TV. Director Kim Dae-woo was involved in the writing process. The show will air in 4 episodes and air in October of next year. (Asian Media Wiki, August 2011)

My Wife Is a Gangster Gets Chinese Remake
The immensely popular My Wife Is a Gangster trilogy is set to be remade as a film in China. The film's production is in the early stages and will likely not begin shooting until next year. (Asian Media Wiki, August 2011)

INTERVIEWS

Conversation With Korean-Brazilian Director Iara Lee
An interview with the Korean-Brazilian Director Iara Lee, whose new film Cultures of Resistance will screen at the EBS International Documentary Festival in Seoul. (10 Magazine, August 17, 2011)

Interview of Cast and Crew of Ashamed
A view interview of the cast and crew of Ashamed, including director Kim Soo-hyun and stars Kim Hyo-jina and Kim KKot-Bi. Video is in Korean with no subtitles. (youtube.com, August 20, 2011)

TRAILERS

Countdown

Silenced

BOX OFFICE

Arrow Stays Strong in Second Week
Despite some competition from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Arrow had a confident second weekend where it dropped less than 15% for 894,000 admissions and 3.1 million overall, surpassing all of the summer's other blockbusters. Blind and Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild also held very well for 338,000 and 168,000 and 1.35 and 1.69 million total, respectively. Meanwhile Quick just managed to cross over the 3 million mark as it wraps up its run while The Front Line may fall just short of that mark. (hancinema.net, August 21, 2011)


Korean Cinema News is a weekly feature which provides wide-ranging news coverage on Korean cinema, including but not limited to: features; festival news; interviews; industry news; trailers; posters; and box office. It appears every Wednesday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Why You Shouldn't Dare Miss KOFFIA 2011!

If you are fan of Korean cinema but have not heard of the brilliant and imminent Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA), surely you must be living under some sort of internet-repelling rock. I want to take a little bit of time to explain in plain terms why you should know about it, why you should be very exited about it, and, as it follows, why you be remiss to miss this wonderful celebration of the ingenuity, versatility, beauty, explosiveness, and awe-inspiring power of the South Korean film industry.

Jang Cheol-soo's Bedevilled

I make no secret and certainly no apologies for my zealous love of this national cinema. I've spent my entire life watching films from across the globe spanning time immemorial, or at least since the Lumieres Brothers, Thomas Edison, or Louis Le Prince, depending on what you believe, changed and enriched our lives forever. I have witnessed; the wondrous and striking early treasures of 1920s and 30s cinema from the US, Weimar Germany, Communist Russia, and many more; the bold and majestic glory of 1940s Hollywood and the heart-rending honesty of Italian Neorealism; the triumphant and poetic genius of 1950s Japanese cinema; the witty, cool, and powerful French Cinema of the 60s; the progressive confidence of 1970s Hollywood and New German Cinema; and the infinitely versatile and too many to name global cinemas of the 1980s, 90s, and new millenium. So much to love, so much to inspire, so much to revere. Yet none more so than an industry that has been plugging away at full steam for over a decade and show no signs of letting up. For me cinema as an industry has never been so complete as it has in the hands of the globalized, revitalized, and ferociously competent Korean cineastes of the modern era.

Kim Tae-kyun's A Barefoot Dream

It's a rather lofty endorsement and not one that I expect all to ascribe to, but no matter what your tastes, if you are a lover of cinema then more or less by default, you should be a lover of Korean film. Those Korean films that have penetrated into the Western consciousness have been unquestionable successes, films like Oldboy (2003), Memories of Murder (2003), A Bittersweet Life (2005), and The Host (2006). However, they only hint at the depth of the industry from which they emanated. Dig a little deeper and you will finds some of the world's greatest art films, romantic comedies, horrors, action films, thrillers, melodramas, and so, so, so much more. For this reason and more I urge you to take a look at KOFFIA 2011.

Hong Sang-soo's Oki's Movie

This year's expanded edition of KOFFIA demonstrates why Korean cinema demands and deserves your attention. The event, which takes place in Sydney August 24-29 and then moves to Melbourne for September 10-13, is split into a variety of categories that cater to your preference in cinema, including: Crime and Punishment, Bloody Friday, Ride the Dream, Extraordinary Ordinary Families, Indie Cinema, Brothers Divided and Masters and Students.

Lee Jeong-beom's The Man From Nowhere

The festival's most well-known offerings are a dizzying display of modern cinematic technique, impeccable storytelling, and thoughtful creativity. Ryu Seung-wan's The Unjust, Lee Jeong-beom's The Man From Nowhere, and Jang Cheol-soo's Bedevilled are three out of the most well-known Korean films from 2010 to western audiences and for good reason. Looking beyond these hardboiled thrillers you will find: some of last year's most lauded arthouse films, including Hong Sang-soo's Oki's Movie and Park Jung-bum's The Journals of Musan; as well as emotional and well-crafted inspirational films such as Kim Tae-kyun's A Barefoot Dream. Beyond last year's films the festival will also present an eclectic mix of past but still recent Korean movies that you may not have had a chance to see on the big screen, like: Park Chan-wook's Joint Security Area (2000), Ryu Seung-wan's No Blood No Tears (2002), and Han Jae-rim's The Show Must Go On (2007). These and many more promise great things for one of the world's most exiting yearly exhibitions of Asian film. Don't you dare miss out!

Weekly Review Round-Up (08/13-08/19, 2011)

Lots of reviews this week including a number for Blind, which opened last week in Korea. I should mention that there are always reviews I don't agree with but I try to be democratic and include everything in this weekly update. I mention this because of the particularly off-point NY Times review of The Journals of Musan. However, it would be very safe to say that he is in the minority. If I've missed anything that you know of please let me know!

NEW KOREAN RELEASES

Arrow, the Ultimate Weapon

(Seongyong's Private Place, August 14, 2011)

Blind

(gordsellar.com, August 15, 2011)

(Seongyong's Private Place, August 14, 2011)

(The Korea Times, August 18, 2011)

Quick

(National Post, August 18, 2011)

RECENT RELEASES

Arirang

(Bright Lights Film Journal, August 2011)

Hanji

(Beyond Hollywood, August 15, 2011)

I Saw the Devil

(Commentary Track, August 16, 2011)

Mama

(nanoomi.net, August 16, 2011)

Metamorphoses

(hancinema.net, August 13, 2011)

Romantic Heaven

(Beyond Hollywood, August 16, 2011)

Shotgun Love

(JapanCinema.net, August 17, 2011)

The Journals of Musan

(The New York Times, August 16, 2011)

The Quiz Show Scandal

(Modern Korean Cinema, August 16, 2011)

PAST FILMS

Secret Sunshine, 2007

(DVD talk, August 15, 2011)

The City of Violence, 2006

(Twitch, August 17, 2011)

The Host, 2006

(Acid Cinema, August 15, 2011)

The Uprising, 1999

(Hangul Celluloid, August 16, 2011)

The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office Update. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

The Quiz Show Scandal (Kwijeu Wang) 2010

At first, I wasn’t too exited about The Quiz Show Scandal despite the fact that it is a recent effort from one of my favorite Korean filmmakers. There has been very little buzz surrounding it, which is strange for a Jang Jin film. I cannot express my delight as the film unspooled and grabbed me from the opening minutes. It is a wonderful ensemble piece stuffed with sparkling dialogue and surely one of the funniest Korean films of the last few years.

The Quiz Show

It is often the case that while Korean thrillers, horrors, and certain romance films make the leap into foreign territories, comedies have a little more trouble accomplishing this. There are certainly some films with elements of humor that have crossed over, such as Save the Green Planet (2003) and The Host (2006) but few outright comedies have managed this feat. The obvious reason for this is a language barrier or a cultural gap. You can’t really laugh at a joke on a subject of which you know nothing about. Korean comedies often suffer from this, at least from a foreigner’s perspective. Those comedies that can be understood by westerners are often simplistic and not always the most shining examples of the genre, the Marrying the Mafia and My Wife Is a Gangster series come to mind. 

The more sophisticated the comedy the more likely it is to go over our heads. Jang Jin’s films have definitely suffered from this from time to time due to the fact that he has such a keen wit and is so articulate. He has both those things in spades, but in Korean, which means that some elements may fall by the wayside. But every so often there is a film that breaks through that is both intelligent and jaw-droppingly hilarious. Lee Hae-joon did it with Castaway on the Moon (2009), Jang Jin did it with his script for Going By the Book (2007) and he’s now done it again with The Quiz Show Scandal.

Jeong Jae-yeong in a great cameo

Like in his previous films, his ever-inventive scripts are brought to life by the excellent ensemble casts he surrounds himself with. Ryoo Seung-yong, Kim Soo-ro, Song Yeong-chang, Kim Byeong-ok, Lee Moon-so, and Im Won-hee are only some of standouts in the stellar cast, which is supplemented by uproarious cameos from Shin Ha-gyun and Jeong Jae-yeong as well as Jang himself.

While it may not have the political rhetoric of Good Morning President (2009), the North-South rapprochement themes of Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005), the criticism of the media of Murder, Take One (2005) or the indictment of authority of Going By the Book, The Quiz Show Scandal uses a clever premise and razor-sharp dialogue as it light-heartedly explores what it means to be intelligent.

After a few opening scenes which loosely give us an idea of the characters that populate the mosaic script, they are all thrown together into a police station for the better part of 30 minutes of screen time. A woman has been run over and they are all somehow involved but they don’t know eachother yet. Most of this extended sequence does absolutely nothing to advance the narrative but it brilliantly shows us who these characters are. Suddenly we are given a piece of information, the woman’s USB stick features the answer to the 30^th and final question of a very difficult TV quiz show, no one has answered it before and the rolling jackpot is enormous. All our variegated protagonists need to do is get to that 30^th question. What follows isn’t surprising but due to its dialogue and characters, it feels like a much more substantial film than it ought to.

Arguing over toy cars

The comedy is truly top notch and I think that anyone could appreciate it. Some gems include the banner to a depression group that reads “We’re not depressed, we’re just less exited than everyone else”, and the pedantic argument that stems from which model of toy car the characters are being represented with as the police try to reconstruct the scene of the accident at the precinct. Another great bit in the opening scenes, which could only come from the mind of Jang Jin is when a pair of gangsters, who are torturing and preparing to kill someone, argue about the provenance of a quote, which the first identifies as Pavarotti while the latter corrects him by pointing out that it was from Goethe’s Faust.

Without spoiling anything else I would urge you to immediately seek out this wonderful film, it is definitely one of Jang’s best.


Reviews and features on Korean film appear regularly on Modern Korean Cinema.  For film news, external reviews, and box office analysis, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update, Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up, which appear weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (GMT+1).

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Korean Cinema News (08/08-08/14, 2011)

KOFFIA

Modern Korean Cinema is a proud media partner of the Korean Film Festival in Australia which will get underway on August 24th in Sydney until the 29th and then move on to Melbourne where it will take unspool from the 10th to the 13th. Many excellent films will be screened including: The Man From Nowhere; Bedevilled; The Unjust; The Journals of Musan; The Show Must Go On (2007); Oki's Movie; and Secret Reunion. Some special guests will also be making an appearance including director Ryoo Seung-wan and producer Kang Hye-jung. If you in the area or can make it there be sure not to miss what is shaping up to be an exceptional celebration of Korean cinema!

Official KOFFIA 2011 Trailer

Behind the Scenes Video

The Korean Film Festival of Australia will feature films by many luminaries of the Korean film industry. Below are profiles they have put together for some of the festival favorites:

Bong Joon-ho

Hong Sang-soon

Jeon Do-youn

Lee Hae-joon

Lee Young-ae

Park Chan-wook

Ryoo Seung-wan

Song Kang-ho

Won Bin

Martin Cleary of New Korean Cinema, another media partner of KOFFIA, gives us an overview of the festival and its films in a series of features.

Overview

Films (Part I)

Films (Part II)

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

A Primer on Korean Cinema
Paul Quinn of Hangul Celluloid gives us an overview of the appeal of Korean cinema for Pelter Magazine. (Pelter Mag, August 8, 2011)

Outcry as KBS Airs First Lesbian Drama
Due to the fact that it contained content relating to same-sex couples, a new KBS drama called Daughters of Club Bilitis had viewers up in arms. (allkpop.com, August 8, 2011)

Miss Conspirator Halts Filming
Due to the poor health of director Jung Bum-Sik, as of August 12, 2011 filming for Miss Conspirator was halted. (Asian Media Wiki, August 12, 2011)

Gone With the Wind Casts Cha Tae-hyun
Gone With The Wind, a historical comedy centered around thieves who attempt to steal ice from an ice house, has cast Cha Tae-hyun and will begin filming in September. (Asian Media Wiki, August 12, 2011)

Korean Shortlist For Academy Awards Announced
Poongsan, Sunny, The Yellow Sea, The Front Line, Hanji and The Day He Arrives have been shortlisted for Korea's submission into next year's academy awards. (Hancinema, August 11, 2011)

Korea's Invasion of Alien Bikini
A profile of director Young-Doo Oh’s Invasion of Alien Bikini which will be premiering later this months. Blending the comic science fiction of Save the Green Planet (2003) with the bondage creepiness of a film like Audition (2001), Oh’s film has the potential to be another in the storied line of Korean films where weirdness defies classification. (Asian Movie Pulse, August 11, 2011)

CJ E&M Harbors Global Ambitions
CJ executives are seeking to double CJ E&M's size by 2015, with overseas markets potentially contributing 30-40% of revenue, compared with about 10% today. (Asian Media Journal, August 11, 2011)

The Man From Nowhere to Be Released by Toei in Japan
As the Japanese major Toei announced that it was returning to foreign acquisitions, it stated that The Man From Nowhere would be its first release. (Screen Daily, August 11, 2011)

Quick to Open in US & Canada
Motorcycle summer blockbuster Quick which has been doing well in general release in Korea will open in select theaters in the US and Canada later this month. (soompi.com, August 10, 20110)

Arirang and Night Fishing Screening at HKSIFF
The Hong Kong Summer International Film Festival will screen Kim Ki-duk's Arirang and Park Chan-wook's iPhone short Night Fishing. The festival runs for two weeks and got underway August 9. (CNNgo.com, August 8, 2011)

Lee Jang-ho to Head New Film Organization
Veteran filmmaker and head of the Seoul Film Commission Lee Jang-ho was elected as the first head of Film Korea, a new organisation which aims to promote Korea as a location for foreign productions as well as converge the separate sectors of film, TV drama, manhwa (manga), animation and gaming. (Screen Daily, August 12, 2011)

Ryoo Seung-beom Thanks Fans for Fantasia Award
A video response from Ryoo Seung-beom after learning that he won the best actor award at Fantasia for his role in his brother's film The Unjust. (youtube.com, August 8, 2011)

Asia Cinema Fund Backs Wide Array of Films
The Busan International Film Festival's Asia Cinema Fund has announced the diverse slate of films it has supported, which includes the Venice Film Festival-bound Cut. (Film Business Asia, August 9, 2011)

Korean Wave Hits Toronto
Cindy Zimmer offers her thoughts on the emergence of Korean culture in Toronto, having moved back there after living in Korea. (Life's An Adventure 2, August 9, 2011)

EDIF to Screen Wide Range of Documentaries
The EBS (Educational Broadcasting System) International Documentary Festival (EDIF), which celebrates non-fiction film, will get underway on August 19, screening 51 films from 29 nations on TV and in theatres. (The Korea Herald, August 10, 2011)

INTERVIEWS

Radio Interview with KOFFIA's Kieran Tully
Kieran Tully, marketing director of KOFFIA, discusses the upcoming festival on SBS radio Australia. (sbs.com.au, August 9, 2011)

Sit-down with Action Star Ha Ji-won
The star of summer blockbuster Sector 7 talks about 3D, her image as an action star and her love for melodramas and romance. (CNNgo.com, August 8, 2011)

TRAILERS

The Client

The Women's Great Escape (1976)

Themselves

BOX OFFICE

Arrow Impresses While Sector 7 Flounders
Arrow, The Ultimate Weapon got off to a strong start with 967,000 admissions while Sector 7 saw most of audience disappear in its second weekend after it wound up with 246,000, down nearly 80% from last week. Quick and The Front Line also tapered off relatively quickly and scored 190,000 and 126,000 spectators, at this rate 3 million is the final threshold that both of these releases can hope for. Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild remained strong with 233,000 while Ghastly almost disappeared in its second week with 5,000 (a 90% drop) and may not even reach 100,000. After the huge success of Sunny, which opened in early May, there has not been another breakout hit, three recent blockbusters have been unable to break out big numbers but perhaps Arrow, which has garnered good reviews, will hold out for some big figures. (hancinema.net, August 14, 2011)


Korean Cinema News is a weekly feature which provides wide-ranging news coverage on Korean cinema, including but not limited to: features; festival news; interviews; industry news; trailers; posters; and box office. It appears every Wednesday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Weekly Review Round-Up (08/06-08/12, 2011)

A variety of films reviewed this week including another pair of broadsheet commentaries for Poetry as it continues to screen across the world.

NEW KOREAN RELEASES

Quick

(hancinema.net, August 6, 2011)

Sector 7

(Seongyeong's Private Place, August 6, 2011)

RECENT RELEASES

Battlefield Heroes

(Variety, August 9, 2011)

Bleak Night

(Beyond Hollywood, August 9, 2011)

Children...

(Modern Korean Cinema, August 6, 2011)

I Saw the Devil

(koreanfilm.org, August 8, 2011)

Hanaan

(indieWIRE, August 9, 2011)

Moss

(Hangul Celluloid, August 7, 2011)

Oki's Movie

(The Reel Bits, August 6, 2006)

Poetry

(Herald Scotland, August 11, 2011)

(The Montreal Gazette, August 11, 2011)

Shotgun Love

(Beyond Hollywood, August 10, 2011)

The Cat

(koreanfilm.org, August 8, 2011)

The Last Godfather

(PopMatters, August 11, 2011)

The Yellow Sea

(pulpcurry.com, August 10, 2011) also cross-posted on VCinema

PAST FILMS

Running Turtle, 2009

(Modern Korean Cinema, August 7, 2011)

The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office Update. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Korean Cinema News (08/01-08/07, 2011)

A large amount of trailers this week and lots of news to boot, including a number of box office milestones.

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

The Unjust Picks Up Award at Fantasia
Scribe Park Joon-hung won the best screenplay award for The Unjust at the close of the 2011 Fantasia International Film Festival which also featured a master class with award-winning director Ryoo Seung-wan. (DreadCentral.com, August 7, 2011)

South Korean Cinema Overview
Korean cinema is once again making waves on the international scene and Richard Gray briefly brings us through its evolution and where it currently stands. (Tresspass Magazine, August 7, 2011)

Fashion Trends in Ten Korean Films
An examination of ten korean films that display forward-thinking or versatile fashion sense. (racked.com, August 7, 2011)

Video Review of Terracotta Far East Film Festival
A video recap of this year's Terracotta Far East Film Festival which featured a number of Korean films and a special guest appearance by Breathless (2009) star Kim Khobbi. (youtube.com, August 6, 2011)

The Rise of Korean B-Movie
With the recent polarization of big-budget and independent cinema in Korea, B-Movies are now also gaining favor. Invasion of Alien Bikini, which was shot for less than $5,000 is leading the fray. (Joong Ang Daily, August 5, 2011)

Rain and Richard Gere to Collaborate on Project
Rain met with Richard Gere last week and announced on Twitter that they would be collaborating on an upcoming project. The results will likely not be seen for over three years as Rain must complete his compulsory military service. (soompi.com, August 5, 2011)

Leafie Breaks Animation Box Office Record
After attracting 500,000 spectators in 8 days, Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild is now officially the quickest selling animation in Korean history. (The Chosun Ilbo, August 4, 2011)

Sector 7 Bursts Out of the Gate
Summer blockbuster Sector 7 got off to a strong start with 230,000 viewers on its first day. It has benefited from the buzz of being the first Korean 3D action film. (hancinema.net, August 4, 2011)

Nicole Kidman Boards Park Chan-wook's Stoker
Park Chan-wook's hollywood debut Stoker is quickly assembling its high profile cast and the latest addition is screen siren Nicole Kidman. (soompi.com, August 4, 2011)

Arirang Confirmed for TIFF
Kim Ki-duk's new film Arirang, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year, has been confirmed in the masters section of this year's Toronto International Film Festival. (indieWIRE, August 3, 2011)

Korean Indie Animation Fest to Present in Australia
In the lead to KOFFIA 2011, the Indie-Anifest will present a special showcase of independent animation from Korea on August 16th. (koreanculture.org.au, August 3, 2011)

Normalization for Online Film Distribution Demanded by Chungmoro
On July 27, 108 companies and organizations, led by the Korean Film Council announced the Declaration for the Normalization for Online Film Distribution. The declaration calls for putting a stop to the illegal circulation of films online. (hancinema.net, August 2, 2011)

Hollywood DMZ Movie in Pre-Production
CJ has partnered with Di Bonaventura Pictures to produce a multi-million dollar blockbuster about Korea's De-Militarized Zone (DMZ). (hancinema.net, August 2, 2011)

New Casting Announcements for Stoker
More casting news for Park Chan-wook's Stoker as Alden Ehrenreich joins the feature. (Variety, August 1, 2011)

The Thieves Completes Location Shoot in Macau
Choi Dong-hoon's fourth feature has wrapped up its location filming in Macau. The Thieves, which stars Kim Yoon-seok, Gianna Jun, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jeong-jae and Oh Dal-suis set to be released in the summer of 2012. (Film Business Asia, August 1, 2011)

Hollywood Studios Funding and Producing Asian Films
Recently, various Asian films have been partially funded or produced by Hollywood studios. They include Na Hong-jin's The Yellow Sea. (Wildgrounds, August 1, 2011)

Indian Marial Artist to Train in Korea
Salman Khan will be training in martial arts in Korea for his upcoming film Kick, which wil be shot on the peninsula. (movies.ndtv.com, August 1, 2011)

INTERVIEW

PiFan Q&A for Invasion of Alien Bikini
Transcription of a Q&A session following a screening of Invasion of Alien Bikini at this year's PiFan. (Asian Media Wiki, August 1, 2011)

TRAILERS

Lots of trailers this week for upcoming Korean films and various touring independent films.

Elbowroom

Fighting Spirit

Ghastly (clip, no dialogue) 

Hanaan

Invasion of Alien Bikini (eng subs) 

Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild

Marrying the Mafia IV - Family Ordeal

Pong Ddol

Share the Vision

Winter Smells


BOX OFFICE

Sector 7 Posts Cracks 1 Million in Opening Weekend
As expected Sector 7 dominated the box office with an opening of 1.154 million admissions. Quick and The Front Line dipped slightly from last week and are in great shape with 368,000 and 329,000 respectively. With 250,000 Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild is edging closer to its 1.5 million break-even point, currently stands at 880,000. Horror film Ghastly opened poorly with just over 50,000 while Sunny begins to wind up its run with 25,000 in its first week out of the top 10. (hancinema.net, August 7, 2011)


Korean Cinema News is a weekly feature which provides wide-ranging news coverage on Korean cinema, including but not limited to: features; festival news; interviews; industry news; trailers; posters; and box office. It appears every Wednesday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.