Korean Cinema News (02/16-02/22, 2012)

It's a very good week to be a Korean cinema fan with numerous big announcements including Classic Korean film channel on YouTube, the release of KOFIC's free 2011 Korean Cinema book and the announcement of the 2012 East Winds Symposium and Festival which I am thrilled to say to say I will be presenting at.  Lots more news, interviews, trailer, posters, and box office as usual.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Classic Korean Film Channel Heading For YouTube

There’s been a big news story this week for anyone interested in classic Korean cinema: the Korean film Archive (KOFA) have announced a partnership with Google which will deliver a Video On Demand service through YouTube of seventy classic Korean films, ranging from 1949 to 1996 – seven of which will be of HD quality.  The answer to the big question is – yes – all of the films will have English subtitles.  (New Korean Cinema, February 18, 2012)

East Winds Symposium + Film Festival Schedules

(Modern Korean Cinema, February 21, 2012)

KOFIC Releases Annual Yearbook of Korea Film

Every year, the Korean Film Council compiles an exhaustive book on Korean cinema, with analysis of the year and profiles for every film released during that time.  It's a very useful resource and must for any Korean cinema fan, the 2011 edition is available to download for free now!

(KoBiZ, Febraury 2012)

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Daisy Entertainment Launches Sales with Taste of Money
South Korean company Daisy Entertainment, better known for their foreign film imports and increasingly visible distribution arm Cinergy, has launched international sales on director Im Sang-soo’s upcoming The Taste of Money.  From the director of Cannes competition film The Housemaid (2010), The Taste of Money stars veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung, who also played a supporting role in the former film.  (KoBiZ, February 9, 2012)

Lotte Announces New Jung Ji-woo Film
Major Korean investor and distributor Lotte Entertainment has announced Happy End (1999) director Jung Ji-woo’s upcoming film Eungyo (working title) at the European Film Market (EFM).  The film is currently in post-production.  Based on Park Bum-shin’s bestselling novel of the same title, Eungyo follows a 70-year-old poet who has an affair with a high school student and is inspired to write a book about her.  However, his best student, jealous of the relationship, steals this work.  The film stars Park Hae-il as the poet.  Park was most recently in War of the Arrows.   (KoBiz, February 10, 2012)

Lotte Sells Arrows in Berlin
South Korea’s Lotte Entertainment has done a raft of deals on Kim Han-min’s period action film War of the Arrows, including to Showgate for Japan.  Starring Park Hae-il as a man out to save his sister and her fiancé from Northern invaders, the film was the biggest domestic film hit in Korea last year.  With 7.46 million admissions, it was second only to Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which took 7.79 million admissions.  (KoBiZ, February 14, 2012)

M-Line Launches Doomsday Book at EFM
South Korean film sales company M-Line Distribution has launched pre-sales on science fiction drama Doomsday Book, co-directed by Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung, according to the Screen International market daily at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin.  Budgeted at US$5m, is made up of three short stories.  (KoBiZ, February 15, 2012)

Annyeong Mate! Sydney Says Hello, Again, to Cinema on the Park
Every Thursday evening between April and December last year, people lined up on Elizabeth Street in Sydney to see what has been one of the steady driving forces behind the popularity of Korean culture -- movies.  When the Korean Cultural Office launched the inaugural "Cinema on the Park" program last year, organizers just wanted to give the locals a taste of Korea.  After drawing more than 1,000 attendees, the event is back this year, kicking off a season that will last until the end of June.  (The Korea Times, February 17, 2012)

Second Film Preservation Center Due By 2014
South Korea plans to establish a second site for preserving and restoring homegrown films by 2014, since the existing location in Seoul is already overflowing with materials, the national film archive said Friday.  The Korean Film Archive said during a news conference in Seoul that it will construct the second preservation center on land in the publishing town in Paju, some 50 kilometers northwest of Seoul, with a total budget of 33 billion won ($29 million).  (The Korea Herald, February 17, 2012)

Korean Films at Deauville Asian Film Festival

The 14th Deauville Asian Film Festival in France has unveiled their line-up this year to include Jang Hui-cheol’s Beautiful Miss Jin and Jeon Soo-il’s Pink from theRepublic of Korea.  A drama/comedy set around Busan’s busy Dong-rae station, director Jang Hui-cheol’s Beautiful Miss Jin previously debutedat last year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in the Korean Cinema Today – Vision section.  (KoBiZ, February 17, 2012)

My Way to Open Terracotta Far East Film Festival
Terracotta is London's premier celebration of the film and culture of the Far East. With a stunning line-up of films hand-picked from the best of the region, encompassing diverse genres from comedy to drama to horror and everything in between, an unbeatable programme of exclusive cast and crew Q&As, intro's and masterclasses and fabulous public parties the Terracotta Far East Film Festival really does have something for everybody.  (Terracotta Film Festival, February 21, 2012)

Private Equity Funds Invest in Korean Films, Real Estate
Private equity funds have increased their holdings in real estate assets and projects related to the boom of the Korean Wave data showed Tuesday.  According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the country’s entire fund market estimated at 311.1 trillion won ($276.9 billion), with the share of private equity funds rising fast.  (The Korea Herald, February 21 2012)

The South Korean Film Industry in 2011
Made to support and promote South Korean films, the KOFIC has published this detailed overview of the year 2011*, trying to analyze trends & numbers.  Quite an interesting reading, here are some of the highlights.  (Wildgrounds, February 21, 2012)

INTERVIEWS

Lee Myung-se: Special Q&A Screening

Interview With Critic and Beijing Film Academy Professor Hao Jian
Film critic and Beijing Film Academy professor Hao Jian has written and talked about what he considers the little-known, real start of the Korean Wave in China.  At the International Film Festival Rotterdam while serving on the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award jury, he spoke to Jean Noh about it and his thoughts on Korea-China cooperation.  (KoBiZ, February 20, 2012)

TRAILERS

The Beat Goes On

POSTERS

Helpless

Introduction to Architecture

Over My Dead Body

Planet of Snail

BOX OFFICE

Howling Takes a Bite Our of the Box Office

(Modern Korean Cinema, February 19, 2012)

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.

Korean Cinema News (02/02-02/08, 2012)

The big news this week is the announcement of this year's Korean Blogathon which is being presented by cineAWESOME! and New Korean Cinema and will this year be hosted on Modern Korean Cinema and a number of other sites, visit the press release below for more information.

2012 KOREAN BLOGATHON

Join Us For ‘Korean Blogathon 2012′
Last year New Korean Cinema played host to the Korean Blogathon – a week which was used to try to shine the spotlight on Korean films and the people who are writing about them online.  The response blew us away – over the seven days many great articles emerged from some brilliant writers and this created some interesting discussions about many varied aspects of Korean film and filmmakers.  It was such a great event that we promised the Blogathon would return…. so here we go!  (New Korean Cinema, February 7, 2012)

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Seven Korean Films Invited to 2012 Berlinale
Seven Korean films have been invited to this year’s Berlinale, scheduled for Feb. 9-19.  Among the seven, director Kang Ju-gyu’s 28 billion won war blockbuster My Way and Jeon Kyu-hwan’s drama Varanasi have been invited to the festival’s non-competition “Panorama” section.  (The Korea Herald, February 1, 2012)

More Images From Yim Pil-sung and Kim Ji-woon's The Doomsday Book
Just last week we heard the good news that the omnibus sci-fi project The Doomsday Book was back on its feet after a long hiatus.  The cast includes Kim Gyu-ri, Kim Kang-woo, Ryoo Seung-beom, Cho Youn-hee, Kim Seo-hyung, and Song Sae-byeok.  The film will hit Korean cinemas this Spring and will also screen at EFM in Berlin next week.  (Twitch, February 2, 2012)

'Jang Keun Suk effect!' You’re My Pet Earns 2.4 Million Dollars
Jang Keun Suk showed off his box office power on the Japanese silver screen.  You’re My Pet, which was released in Japan on January 21, earned 2,424,009 dollars by January 29.  The movie ranked ninth in box office receipts in the second week.  (korea.com, February 2, 2012)

Korean Film in 2012
The Korean film industry has a lot to offer for the year of 2012. Korean films have been gathering more attention around the world and in the domestic market, as Korean films gain attention and Korean actors and producers take part in more international collaborations.  According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the market share for Korean films was 51.9%, up from 46.5 in 2010 and marking the first time in modern history that Korean moviegoing audiences showed a marked preference for domestic movies.  As well, film exports increased by 14% in 2011.  (IT Times, February 3, 2012)

Oscar Hopeful Octavia Spencer Joins Sci-Fi Drama Snow Piercer

The cast of Korean director Bong Joon-ho's (The Host) first English-language movie, the post-apocalyptic drama Snow Piercer, was already impressive, but it just got even better.  Captain America: The First Avenger star Chris Evans was the first to sign on, but he was soon joined by two-time Academy Award-nominated actor John Hurt (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) and Academy Award-winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton).  Now, the cast has gained another Oscar contender as THR reports Octavia Spencer (The Help) has also joined the cast.  (reelz.com, February 5, 2012)

Finecut Acquires Hong Sang-soo's Another Country
The South Korean sales company will be screening a promo reel at the upcoming European Film Market.  South Korean company Finecut is handling international sales on Hong Sang-soo’s new film Another Country, starring the award-winning actress Isabelle Huppert. The film was shot in summer last year and is now in post-production.  (Screen Daily, February 6, 2012)

Leafie Launches 108 Media
Toronto-based 108 Media is launching at the Berlin market by acquiring English-language rights to Korean animated title Leafie: A Hen Into the Wild.  Company will focus on worldwide sales and Canadian distribution of films, TV, gaming and mobile content.  Funded by private equity, 108 Media is headed by Abhishek Rastogi, former managing director of Cinesavvy.  (Variety, February 6, 2012)

KOFIC to Support 33 Korean-Foreign Joint Productions in 2012
The Korean Film Council will be supporting 33 Korean-foreign joint production films this year, as well as small-sale production houses and distributors, its officials announced in a press meeting in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Tuesday.  The council kicked off the 2 billion won project for the 33 joint productions on Tuesday by announcing its official call for submissions.  (The Korea Herald, February 7, 2012)

Romantic Heaven Picks Up award at 30th Fajr International Film Festival
The 30th Fajr International Film Festival in Iran bequeathed its best screenplay award went to South Korean film Romantic Heaven by director/writer Jang Jin. (Tehran Times, February 7, 2012)

Film Unbowed Creates Nationwide Stir on Fair Trial
The Korean film Unbowed has now become the center of attention in Korea, drawing more than 2.5 million viewers since it opened in mid-January.  The film succeeded in reaching out to millions of viewers, as the film focuses on unfair and biased legal procedures.  Although this movie is based on a true story, it has created a stir nationwide on whether or not the plot has been exaggerated or even modified from the actual facts.  (Arirang TV, February 7, 2012)

INTERVIEWS

Lee Myeong-se – “Better and Sweeter”
Award winning films, Nowhere To Hide (1999), Duelist (2005) and M (2007) are amongst those directed by Lee Myeong-se.  In between directing (& writing) these action, fantasy & thriller-noir titles he’s given the world further tales made up of dramas, love stories and comedies.   However, it’s not only the genre-busting he seems to do well it’s also in his filming techniques.   Rarely does a scene pass without some brilliant imagery.   With all this in mind, it’s my reckoning that this down-to-earth and funny guy is more than capable of pulling off his forthcoming feature.   We cover that film and others in our interview together.  Well done, ‘Mister Lee’!  (Mini Mini Movie Review, February 2, 2012)

Back From Near Extinction, Dinosaurs Tromp Through New Film
Dinosaurs once roamed through Korean film, but none were very fierce.  All of the reptiles were shoddy creatures shot with miniature action figures, resulting in unnatural performances and awkward movements.  The lack of technology also allowed these gigantic characters just one facial expression: an angry face with a mouth wide open to reveal a set of threatening, peg-like teeth.  Then, in the late 90’s, dinosaur films did a disappearing act and it looked like they were on their way to extinction.  (Joong Ang Daily, February 3, 2012)

Interview With Director Lee Kwang-kuk
Formerly an assistant director to Hong Sang-soo, Lee Kwang-kuk has struck off on his own to make his feature debut with Romance Joe.  After a world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, Romance Joe made its international premiere in the Tiger Awards Competition at the recently wrapped International Film Festival Rotterdam.  Lee spoke with Jean Noh ahead of and at the festival about his work.  (KoBiZ, February 6, 2012)

TRAILERS

Doomsday Book


Miss Conspirator


Romance Joe

POSTERS

Eighteen and Nineteen

The Taste of Money

Train

BOX OFFICE

Nameless Gangster Leads the Charge as Local Films Clean Out the Competition

(Modern Korean Cinema, February 5, 2011)

Box Office Analysis, Jan. 18 - 31

Two Korean films emerged as major hits in 2012's Lunar New Year holiday season – Dancing Queen and Unbowed.  The success of Dancing Queen, which sold 2.26 million tickets in its first two weeks on release, was not entirely unexpected.  (KoBiZ, February 3, 2012)

Korean Movies Outshining Int’l Films at the Box Office

Korean movies are outshining their international counterparts at domestic box offices, according to statistics released recently by the Korean Film Commission, as the top-five most-watched movies at the moment are all homegrown.  (Joong Ang Daily, February 7, 2012)


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.

Korean Cinema News (01/19-01/25, 2012)

More casting news for Snow Piercer this week as Jamie Bell and John Hurt are added (though MKC originally reported the latter a few weeks ago).  A number of great features this week including one from VCinema (a site to which I contribute).  Another big piece of news is the status of Korean films at the local box office which broke the 50% mark last year, more on this in the box office section.  Finally a new section detailing Upcoming Releases of Korean films (which can be found in the above tabs) has been added to MKC and will be updated regularly.

The Celluloid Traveler: In Search of The Host on the Han River
The Han River splits the city of Seoul neatly in two. North of the river lies the city’s past: huge, stately palaces; winding neighborhoods full of handsome hanok (traditional Korean houses); and monolithic gates that mark where defensive walls once stood.  South of the Han is Seoul’s future: Yeoido, the financial center of Korea; endless high-rise apartment buildings marching through what just a few decades ago was sleepy farm land; and some of the most expensive real estate on the peninsula.  The Han River is where Seoul’s ten million plus inhabitants go to unwind on a weekend afternoon, taking advantage of the myriads of parks and recreational facilities that line its banks.  It’s also where Bong Joon-Ho set some of the key scenes in his 2006 film The Host.  (VCinema, January 24, 2012)

Bleak Blockbusters
Korea had a bad 20th century.  First Japan occupied the country, then Allied forces occupied it, then a war ripped it in half, then North Korea became a dictatorship, then South Korea experienced a coup followed by a decade of military rule, followed by another decade of martial law, followed by the assassination of the president, another coup, another military regime, and, finally, in 1987, a return to constitutional government.  (Slate, January 18, 2012)

Jamie Bell in Talks to Join Bong Joon-ho's Snow Piercer
Well, well. Bong Joon-ho's upcoming post apocalyptic feature Snow Piercer is shaping up to have quite a cast.  We've known for a long time that Bong regular Song Kang-ho would have a part and just days ago came word that Chris Evans was in talks to join the adaptation of French graphic novel Le Transperceneige.   And now here come two more, with Variety reporting that both Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell are in talks for the picture as well.  (Twitch, January 18, 2012)

Kelly Masterson Shining up the Snow Piercer
Sometimes a fresh set of eyes is all you need to punch up and polish a script, and that's exactly what's happening when it comes to the latest film from the makers of The Host (2006), Snow Piercer.  According to Variety, the flick will now get a rewrite before it goes into production this spring.  Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) scribe Kelly Masterson is doing the rewrite of the film that stars Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, and Jamie Bell.  (Dread Central, January 18, 2012)

Jeonju Digital Project 2012 Trio Announced
The 13thJeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) has announced the three directors for this year’s Jeonju Digital Project short film omnibus. Raya Martin, one of the most prominent young filmmakers of the Pinoy cinema renaissance, Vimukthi Jayasundara, “a visionary poet” of contemporary Sri Lankan cinema, and Ying Liang, one of the most promising directors on the Chinese digital independent filmmaking scene.  (KoBiz, January 20, 2012)

Rotterdam Lab to Welcome Four Korean Producers
The International Film Festival Rotterdam has announced the final 78 young film producers who will take part in the 12th edition of the Rotterdam Lab at CineMart to include four Korean producers.  These are Dahci Ma of Real Black Chicken Film, Lee Young-mi of Film Front, Dave Kim of Rainbow Factory and Han  Sunhee of BOL Pictures.  Started in 2000, the Jeonju Digital Project is an annual production by the festival which gives KW50 million (about US $44,000) each to three directors to make short films.  (KoBiZ, January 19, 2012)

Udine Plans 70s Korean Film Showcase
The 14th Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy has announced a retrospective of South Korean cinema entitled “The Darkest Decade: Korean Filmmakers in the 1970s”.  Curated by Korean cinema expert Darcy Paquet (who is also a frequent writer on the KoBiz site and Contributing Editor to Korean Cinema Today), the retrospective will feature ten films that have yet to be screened in the West.   (KoBiz, January 19, 2012)

Four Korean nominations at the Asian Film Awards
The 6th Asian Film Awards has announced nominations in 14 categories including one for Park Hae-il, the star of period action thriller War of the Arrows, and three nominations for South Korea’s Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film submission The Front Line.   (KoBiZ, January 18, 2012)

Smartphones Help Directors Look at Films from New Angles
It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it’s accessible.  Welcome to smartphone-filmmaking, which has become the new trend for both amateur and professional filmmakers in the past year.  The trend – which started about a year ago upon the domestic release of Apple’s iPhone 4 and its local carrier KT’s aggressive-creative promotion of the products – is becoming even bigger as more capital and talents are getting involved.  (The Korea Herald, January 20, 2012)

Goo Hye Sun's Short Length Film You to Premiere in Russia
The actress Goo Hye Sun’s short length film You will premiere in Russia.  The film was given an invitation to show at the Moscow “Korean Short Film Special Showing Event” that will be held from January 19-22.  The group that runs the event “Cool Connections Art Group” is planning to introduce Korean films to Russia. Out of the event if a film is chosen, it will also be shown in 5 different Russian cities.  (soompi.com, January 18, 2012)

John Hurt Joins Snow Piercer
Bong Joon-ho's train-set thriller Snow Piercer continues to gain momentum with news that legendary English actor John Hurt has joined the cast that already includes Captain America: The First Avenger star Chris Evans and internationally heralded chameleon Tilda Swinton.  (Cinema Blend, January 23, 2012)

Movie Sheds Light on Distrust in Judiciary
The release of a new movie that is based on a “crossbow terror” case in 2007, in which a judge was attacked by a professor, is causing controversy among the general public and the judiciary here.  (The Korea Times, January 20, 2012)

INTERVIEW

Spotlighting South Korean Cinema
Kyung Hyun Kim spent his childhood in Indonesia and the Middle East due to the career demands of his father, a petroleum engineer for a South Korean oil company. He turned to movies at an early age to escape the stress of frequent moves and new schools.  “I think because of their unfamiliarity with American culture, my parents let me watch a lot of movies that weren’t made for children,” says Kim, a UC Irvine associate professor of East Asian languages & literatures and film & media studies.  (uci.edu, January 2012)

2012 Sundance Filmmakers: Kangmin Kim
Hyphen continues its interviews with the Asian American filmmakers attending this year's Sundance film festival. Kangmin Kim, like Andrew Ahn, is also a CalArts grad.  While Ahn's interest is in social realist cinema, Kangmin's interest occupies the completely opposite end of the cinematic spectrum -- stop motion animation.  (Hyphen Magazine, January 20, 2012)

TRAILER

Choked (eng sub)


Tarbosaurus 3D (eng subs)

POSTER

2 Lines

Eighteen and Nineteen

Russian Coffee

BOX OFFICE

Dancing Queen Waltzes to First Place During Busy Lunar New Year Weekend

(Modern Korean Cinema, January 22, 2012)

South Korean Films Surge in 2011

Local-made films grabbed more than half of the South Korean box office last year, the first time in six years.  According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, South Korean films enjoyed a market share of 51.9% in 2011, up from 46.5% the previous year.  (Film Business Asia, January 23 2012)

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.

Korean Cinema News (12/29, 2010 - 01/04, 2011)

As 2012 gets underway there are many top 10 lists floating around, I was planning to include them all here but there are so many that I will only include a few and I will do a separate post on them a little later this month.  Plenty of other news this weeks, with some features, interview, and trailers to boot.

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

The Year in Film: 2011 Brought Large Successes from Low-Budget Movies
It was another tough year for the film industry.  According to the Korean Film Council, 136 Korean films and 278 foreign films were released as of late November, but just a few of them became box office hits and a handful of them were remembered by the audience.  The most expensive film flopped, and the least-anticipated film became a sleeper hit of the year.  (Joong Ang Daily, December 30, 2011)

Jo In-seong Comes Back With Cold
Having finished his military duty, Jo In-seong is currently in the final stages of negotiating terms and conditions for a new project.  Cold is the first movie in nine years by director Kim Seong-su, who directed There is No Sun (1999), Beat (1997), Musa (2001) and 2003's Please Teach Me English.  Kim Seong-su had been making One-Armed Warrior, a Hong Kong co-production . Cold is going to be produced by Jo In-Seong and Sidus HQ.  It is about a man and a woman who look for the host of the virus that is fatally spreading.  (hancinema.net, December 29, 2011)

Spotlight on Indie Films

The Korean film industry was more diverse than ever before.  Amid an array of high-budget blockbuster films, a couple of Korean independent films achieved the10,000-audience mark, a figure compared to 1 million viewers for commercial films.  The rise of independent films started with Re-encounter in February.  (Joon Ang Daily, December 29, 2011)

Best of 2011: Korean Films
It has been a year of great debuts, be it in terms of format or first-time narrative feature helmers, coming from both the more established generation of filmmakers that emerged in the mid-1990s and those that represent the newest crop of interesting filmmakers to watch.  There were also surprising domestic box-office hits for small films this year.  Not small in terms of output or inferiority, but rather in blockbuster terms: low-key works that unlocked just as many – if not more – emotional keys and engaged the spectator in subtle and surprising ways.  (Asia Pacific Arts, December 28, 2011)

Low-Budget 3D Films?

In a larger feature on 3D movie sand Hollywood, there was a quote from Choo Sang-sok, the director of Persimmon 3D:  “Budget doesn’t matter, it is story that matters in cinema and its the same when you are using 3D.”  After the high profile failure of Sector 7, perhaps Korean filmmakers could make a name for themselves by revolutionizing smaller-scale use of the de rigueur technology?  (The Malaysian Insider, December 27, 2011)

I Saw the Devil Deemed Best Foreign Film by Austin Film Critics

In its annual evaluation of the year's best and worst in film, the Austin Film Critics Association has seen fit to award Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil with the Best Foreign Film Prize.  In addition, the revenge pic also landed at No. 8 on their top 10 list for the year.  (Film School Rejects, December 28, 2011)

My Way to Open in Japan
Kang Je-gyu’s World War II drama My Way is due to open in theaters in Japan on January 14, 2012.  Leading Korean distributor CJ E&M says the film will be released on 300 screens.  Starring Jang Dong-gun and Odagiri Joe with a strong supporting cast which includes Chinese star Fan Bingbing and Korea’s Kim In-kwon, the film is Korea’s most expensive – made for US$25 million.  Although My Way has been doing less business than expected in Korea, the film has so far taken in more than 1.17 million admissions for co-distributors CJ E&M and SK Planet. (KoBiz, December 30, 2011)

Arirang Invited to Kuestendorf Film Festival
Kim Ki-du's comeback film Arirang will be playing at yet another film festival, this time invited to screen at the Kuestendorf Film Festival in Serbia.  (AFP, December 28, 2011)

Korea’s Lotte Cinema Opens Fourth Vietnam Multiplex

Major South Korean exhibition chain and affiliate of major Korean distribution company Lotte Entertainment, Lotte Cinema is opening its fourth theater in Vietnam on Dec. 31.  The new five-screen multiplex will be in Hanoi, with 848 seats and 3D projection.  Lotte Cinema has been in the Vietnamese exhibition sector since 2008 when it acquired the Diamond Cinema Joint Venture Company (DMC).  (KoBiz, December 30, 2011)

Who's the Busiest Actor of 2012?
Who is going to be the busiest actress or actor in 2012?  Looking at the movies that are being released or are planning to go into production this year, we can see several names that appear often.  (hancinema.net, January 2, 2012)

Questions About Korean Cinema...

Martin Cleary over at New Korean Cinema is fielding questions on Korean film!  (New Korean Cinema, December 30, 2011)

Korea’s My Way Going to Berlin Film Fest
In a move that may come as a bit of a surprise given it's lukewarm reception from audiences and critics in its native Korea, Jang Je-gyu's mega WWII blockbuster My Way, starring Jang Dong-gun, Joe Odagiri, and Fan Binbin, will be featured as one of Berlin International Film Festival’s Panorama sidebars this year, the film’s distributor said Wednesday.  (The Korea Herald, January 4, 2012)

Director Kim Jee-woon comes back with The Fall of Humanity

A lot of news items have flown around the internet claiming that Kim Jee-woon is returning to Korea to film The Fall of Humanity, citing an piece by hancinema.net.  However the article is very unclear and from what I understand the film, wich is an omnibus comprising on short by Kim and two by Yim Pil-seong began filming in 2006 and was halted for financial reasons.  Not much else is known but since the release is slated for February/March, I can't imagine that Kim is heading back to shoot his segment.  (hancinema.net, January 2, 2012)

Korean Film Fiesta Dazzles Lagosians
The second Korea Film Festival in Nigeria was held recently in Lagos, with a refreshing experience for the Nigerian movie lovers who thronged the venue.  Korean films have benefited tremendously from the emergence of youthful, talented film directors, as well as the liberalization of the market, leading Hallyuwood to occupy a large percentage of the Korean domestic market and ever-increasing export.  (The Daily Sun, December 29, 2011)

Hong Sang-soo Tops Cine21’s Picks of the Year

South Korea’s leading film and entertainment magazine Cine21 has picked Hong Sang-soo’s The Day He Arrives as the Best Film of 2011. In their annual survey, the magazine with its 33 journalists and critics also picked Hong as the Best Director of the Year.  The magazine lauded The Day He Arrives as “a singular experience of time and space and memory”.  (KoBiz, January 3, 2012)

Darcy Paquet's Top 10 Korean Films of 2011

Over at koreanfilm.org, Darcy Paquet has offered up his top 10 for the year which by his admissions is very weighted towards low-budget fare this year.  This seems to be the consensus as independent films were strong this year but commercial fare was weaker than in other years.  (koreanfilm.org, January 3, 2012)

INTERVIEWS

Director Explores Childhood Betrayal
For anyone who has seen Park Chul-soon’s feature debut Lovable, a moving portrait of a young girl with Savant syndrome, it wouldn’t be surprising to discover the director full of playfulness.  The 28-year-old’s debut, which won the best screenplay prize at Persons with Disabilities Film Festival this year, is filled with childhood desires and imaginative adventures.  (The Korea Herald, December 26, 2011)

Michelle Son, Managing Director of M-Line Distribution

Heading up international sales company M-Line Distribution as Managing Director, Michelle Son has in a few short years positioned the company to handle a bulk of deals including foreign remake deals for major local titles.  She spoke with KoBiz over the phone about looking beyond feature films for exciting audiovisual content and the importance of facilitating international co-productions.  (KoBiz, December 29, 2011)

TRAILERS

Nameless Gangster

Papa

POSTERS

Love Fiction

Never Ending Story

BOX OFFICE

Korean Films Outdone By Hollywood as 2012 Gets Underway
(Modern Korean Cinema, January 2, 2011)

Korea's Highest Grossing Foreign Films of 2011

We have seen Korean cinema succeed both locally and internationally this year, but which foreign films made it big in Korea in 2011?  Besides the few international films from Asia and Europe it has been Hollywood that has dominated Korea's consumption of foreign films.  War of the Arrows stood out as Korea's highest grossing domestic film of the year but even that was trumped by over 400,000 admissions to the third Transformers film.  (hancinema.net, December 31, 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. 

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