Showing posts with label busan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label busan. Show all posts

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Korean Cinema News (09/15-09/21, 2011)

Not a huge amount of news this week, mainly pieces on the upcoming Busan film fest. Also a couple of interviews and trailers.


KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Won Bin’s The Man From Nowhere to be released in China
Actor Won Bin‘s blockbuster film The Man From Nowhere will be meeting audiences in China. According to the Beijing, China office of the Korean Film Commission on September 15th, The Man From Nowhere will be released in more than 4,000 cinemas across China on September 16th. Depending on the turnout of the opening week of this intermediate scale distribution, the movie may further expand on the number of cinemas that it will be showing in. (allkpop, September 15, 2011)

Kim Ki-duk to Head Jury of Eurasia Film Festival
The international jury of the seventh Eurasia international festival which opened in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Monday will be headed by South Korean film director Kim Ki-Duk. His last film Arirang will be shown in the "Special Event" programme. (trend.az, september 19, 2011)

Poster revealed for the upcoming Korean movie My Way
A poster for Kang Je-gyu's mega-blockbuster My Way, which reportedly cost $30 million to make, has appeared online, the film is set for release in December. (hancinema.net, September 19, 2011)

Actress Song Hye-kyo plays a documentary producer who forgives a 17-year-old boy for killing her fiance in the movie A Reason to Live, which will premier at the 16th Busan International Film Festival next month. The film is directed by Lee Jeong-hyang, of Art Museum by the Zoo (1998) fame. It was officially invited to premiere at the Gala Presentation of the film festival. (The Chosun Ilbo, September 20, 2011)

DMZ Korean International Documentary Festival Opens Sept. 22
The Third DMZ Korean International Documentary Festival will open Sept. 22 to 28 in Paju, Gyeonggi province, a northern South Korean city bordering North Korea. The event celebrating themes of peace, life and communication will show 100 documentary films from 30 countries around the world. (The Hollywood Reporter, September 20, 2011)

Busan Int'l Film Fest to Shed Light on SE Asian Cinema
Asia's largest film festival, the Busan International Film Festival, will be held from Oct. 6 to14 at five theaters in the city of Busan. Some 307 films from 70 countries will be screened, with 135 premiering at the festival. The festival was formerly known as the Pusan International Film Festival but amended the spelling of its name this year to conform to the official Romanization of the city in which it is held. (The Chosun Ilbo, September 20, 2011)

Haunters Picked as a Must-see of Fantastic Fest
Haunters, a South Korean movie about a child who has the ability to control anyone who makes eye contact with him. He can assemble armies with the power of his mind. "It's very superhero-esque," says Tim League, festival founder. "But there's no costumes. It plays out more like a drama." (The Hollywood Reporter, September 21, 2011)


INTERVIEWS

Kim Man-hee Interview
Paul Quinn interviews the director of the blockbuster Arrow, the Ultimate Weapon which will be the opening of the upcoming London Korean Film Festival. (Hangul Celluloid, September 16, 2011)

Toronto Fest Interview with Mia Wasikowska
Mia Wasikowska discusses working on the new Park Chan-wook film Stoker which is currently in production. Skip down to the final few questions. (The A.V. Club, September 20, 2011)


TRAILERS








(Modern Korean Cinema, September 19, 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. 

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.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Korean Cinema News (09/05-09/13, 2011)

I'm away in Dublin for a few days so this update is a little lighter than usual. Some features on the rising popularity of Korean literature and a lot of acquisitions of Korean films for international distribution.


KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Top 6 Art Cinemas in Seoul
For anyone sick of watching the same 10 movie stars go through the same motions in every blockbuster, these six art cinemas around Seoul offer less commercial, more experimental films on their screens. Keep in mind that most of the movies are shown in their original language with Korean subtitles, unless otherwise noted by the theater: 1. Cinecube; 2. Arthouse Momo; 3. Spongehouse; 4. Sangsang Madang Cinema; 5. Seoul Art Cinema; and 6. Media Theater i-Gong. (CNN, September 5, 2011)

Korean director Kim Ki-duk Retrospective at Busan
The 16th Busan International Film Festival, which will be held from October 6-14, 2011 will present a Retrospective of Korean director Kim Ki-duk. Ki-duk made his debut with Five Marines in 1961 and went on to make 66 films in his career. His last film was Yeonggwangui 9 hoimal in 1977. Eight of his works will be screened at the festival: Five Marines (1961); The Barefooted Young (1964); The North and South (1965); Buy My Fist (1966); Horse-year Bride (1966); I Will Be a King for the Day (1966); Monster Yonggari (1967) and; Until That Day (1969). (dearcinema.com, September 6, 2011)

The Day He Arrives Invited to England, Brazil, Austria Film Fests
Korean film The Day He Arrives has been invited to films festivals in England, Austria and Brazil, adding to the fast-growing list of international film events that have called on critically acclaimed director Hong Sang-soo's newest movie. (10asia.co.kr, September 7, 2011)

It’s BIFF Now, The P Is Out
South Korea’s largest and most star-studded film festival – and one of the largest in Asia – is getting a new home and a new acronym. It’s now the Busan International Film Festival, instead of the Pusan International Film Festival. BIFF, not PIFF. Organizers of the festival, which this year runs from Oct. 6 to 14, held news conferences in both Seoul and Busan on Thursday to announce the opening and closing films and some of the winners of various prizes. (The Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2011)

Song Il-gon's romance Always will open next month's Busan International Film Festival (6-14 Oct 2011). Always stars So Ji-sup as a former boxing champ traumatised by the death of an opponent who died during a match. After falling in love with a blind girl, played by Han Hyo-ju, he returns to the ring. The event will close with Harada Masato's drama Chronicle of My Mother. Based on Inoue Yasushi's autobiographical novel, the Japanese film was awarded the Special Grand Prize at the recent Montreal World Film Festival. (Film Business Asia, September 8, 2011)

Finecut's New Deals Include Arirang to Italy, Day He Arrives to France
Korean sales company Finecut has announced a raft of deals as the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off. Kim Ki-duk’s documentary Arirang has sold to Italy (Punto Zero), German-speaking Europe (Rapid Eye Movies), and Poland (New Horizons) in addition to Japan and Taiwan. Hong Sang-soo’s The Day He Arrives has sold to France (Les Acacias) and Israel (Nachoshon). Night Fishing, directed by brothers Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong, also sold to Italy (Tucker Film) and German-speaking Europe (Rapid Eye Movies). (Screen Daily, September 9, 2011)

Fueled by Need for Fresh Material, Best-sellers Become Box Office Hits
The soon-to-be released Korean film The Crucible has a sure-fire selling point: the film is based on the novel of the same name by Gong Ji-young, one of a few star authors in Korea whose novels have sold more than a million copies. Although cinematic adaptations of best-sellers do not always guarantee success at the box office, they are providing rich fodder for film production companies looking for fresh material. The formula seems to be working, with theaters reporting record attendance numbers. (Joon Ang Daily, September 9, 2011)

Can Literature be Next 'Hallyu' Hit?
After prominent novelist Shin Kyung-sook rose to international fame with her landmark book Please Look After Mom, global interest in Korean literature began to grow. Shin said that Korean literature seems fresh to readers in other countries and its status is bigger than Koreans think. “They seem to be looking for an alternative in humanity and community spirit, which is richly expressed in Korean literature,” she said in a recent press conference. (The Korea Times, September 9, 2011)

Cine Asia/Showbox Pick up Arrow, the Ultimate Weapon and More for UK Release
Cine Asia/Showbox are just unstoppable, it seems. In the shadow of their losses from the Sony fire last month, they have announced several new acquisitions for the fourth quarter of 2011, including recent South Korean action hit, Arrow The Ultimate Weapon. Also included in their plans are Spanish freak-out Neon Flesh, British horror Panic Button, and Korea's selection for the 2012 Oscars, The Front Line. (Twitch, September 10, 2011)

Modern Korean Literature: Searching for Identity at Home and in the World
If you only listen to one nearly two-hour podcast on Korean modern literature, it has to be this one by Ann Choi Wan. Wan takes you from the start of modern literature (Yi Kwang-su, more or less, and she talks about his relationship with modernity and romance and how that doesn’t work out quite that way it does in the west) all the way up to the recent successes of post-modern Korean fiction. (klit.com, September 10, 2011)

The Host in 3D Will Premiere at the 2011 Pusan International Film Festival
The Host is set to be shown in 3D for the first time at the 2011 Pusan International Film Festival. The original version was released in 2006 and set a box-office record in a very short amount of time. Even though the original version was released five years ago, the 3D version is expected to give its viewers a whole new experience. It is also expected to be a great hit in the whole Asian film market. (soompi.com, September 11, 2011)

Well Go Lands Rights To Two Korean Pics
Well Go USA has acquired North American TV, DVD, digital, and VOD rights to the South Korean war drama My Way from CJ Entertainment. Well Go also bought from CJ all North American rights including theatrical to the 3D-animated actioner Tarbosaurus. (Deadline, September 12, 2011)
Arrow, The Ultimate Weapon with Park Hae-il, Ryoo Seung-yong and Moon Chae-won has maintained its success during the Chuseok holiday as it crossed 6 million admissions. According to the Korean Film Commission, Arrow, The Ultimate Weapon was released on August 10th and has so far recorded 6,172,643 audiences. (hancinema.net, September 13, 2011)


INTERVIEW

Director Hong Sang-soo: Part 1
(10asia.co.kr, September 7, 2011)


TRAILERS






(Modern Korean Cinema, September 12, 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. 

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.