Monday, April 11, 2011

Korean Cinema News (04/04-04/10, 2011)

I am starting a brief industry news section which will run weekly and feature posts on Korean films from a global perspective.  As I dabble with it over the coming weeks, the format and content may well change. Please contact me with thoughts or any suggestions to improve it.


KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Arnold Schwarzenneger to Star in Kim Ji-woon's The Last Stand?
After two stints as Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenneger's return to the silver screen may come as the star of Kim Ji-woon's US debut The Last Stand, which will come from a blacklisted Hollywood screenplay.  (Ain't It Cool. April 6, 2011)

Poetry's Yoon Jung-hee Honored with French Cultural Order
Yoon Jung-hee, star of the Lee Chang Dong's much-lauded film Poetry (2010), has been honoured with a top French cultural award.  French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand named Yoon an "Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters."  (YonHap News Agency, April 6, 2011)

Independent Korean cinema will be featured prominently at this year's Jeonju film festival.  Short films from Yang Ik-jun, hot off the heels of Breathless (2009), and internationally-renowned woman's director Boo Ji-young will be featured alongside efforts from Im Kwon-taek and others in Korean Cinema Showcase section.  (JoonAng Daily, April 8, 2011)

Bong to Preside over Cannes' Camera d'Or Prize
Bong Joon-ho has been selected to head the jury for the Camera d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, which is given to the best effort from a debut filmmaker.  He has previously attended the festival in competition as part of the omnibus Tokyo! in 2008 and his most recent feature effort Mother in 2009.  (Deadline New York, April 7, 2011)

Lee to Judge Critics' Week at Cannes
Master filmmaker Lee Chang-dong whose last two films, Poetry (2010) and Secret Sunshine (2007), both won awards at Cannes, will return to the festival this year as the head judge for the Grand Jury prize during the Critics’ Week Festival de Cannes.  (The Hollywood Reporter, April 7, 2011)

Upcoming Korean blockbuster My Way will be the focus of a promotional event hosted by this year's Cannes film festival. Kang Je-gyu's My Way, a World War II set film with a record setting 30 billion won budget, is set to be released simultaneously in Korea and Japan in December.  (The Korea Times, April 7, 2011)


BOX OFFICE

Clash of the Families has now spent two weekends atop the Korean box office with a haul of just over 450,000 admissions.  That's a 6% decline from last weekend and its total now stands at 1,375,000.  Late Blossom continues to play well, having just crossed 1.5 million admissions in its 8th week.  This week Clash of the Families will vie with Suicide Forecast for the box office crown.  (Hancinema, April 10, 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-upReviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

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