Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Korean Cinema News (02/23-02/29, 2012)

Bit of slow news week for Korean cinema but some interesting tidbits nonetheless, including some festival news and some new stills, posters and trailers for anticipated films.


KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

KOFIC to Re-open Seoul Media Center
The Korean Film Council is re-opening its media education institute, “Seoul Media Center,” in Chungmuro district in Pil-dong, Seoul, on Thursday, the organization said.  The institute was first established as "Mediact" in 2002 on the fifth floor of the Ilmin Museum of Art building near Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.  (The Korea Herald, February 22, 2012)

Florence Korea Film Fest to open with Always
The 10th Florence Korea Film Fest in Italy has announced it will open with Song Il-gon’s Always, last year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) Opening Film.  The festival will screen 32 feature films and 24 shorts during its nine-day run, and close with Kim Ki-duk’s Arirang, which made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year.  (KoBiz, February 24, 2012)

New Kim Ki-duk Film
Director Kim Ki-duk, producer of the film Rough Cut, is creating a second project called Actor's Cut.  In a sequel to Rough Cut, which starred So Ji-sub and Kang Ji-hwan, the new movie is based on the collapse of a popular star actor.  It is expected to express Kim's shocking and unique style.  The distributor for the movie told "TV Report" on February 28th, "The cast hasn't been decided upon yet because we are still in the preparation process".  (hancinema.net, February 28, 2012)

After a bit of a quiet stretch Korean director Kim Ki-duk is returning to the sort of gritty dark drama where he first made his name with the upcoming Pieta.  Jo Min-soo and Lee Jeong-jin star in the director's eighteenth feature.  (Twitch, February 28, 2012)

20th Century Fox to Directly Invest in Korean Film Industry
Film distributor 20th Century Fox has announced its plan to directly invest in the South Korean movie industry.  As the first U.S. major film company to directly enter the South Korean market, Fox will produce five Korean movies, each costing up to five billion won, starting this year.  The movies will be sold around the world through Fox’s own distribution network.  (KBS, February 28, 2012)

Lee OK For Mr. K
Nowhere to Hide (1999) director Lee Myung-se is to direct comedy spy action film Mr. K from next month, his first feature film in five years.  The film will star Seol Gyeong-gu, Moon So-ri, Go Chang-seok and heart-throb Daniel Henney.  The confused identity story sees a spy undercover in a foreign country while his wife, not knowing his disguise, also gets involved.  (FilmBiz Asia, February 29, 2012)

Korean Films in the Hong Kong Film Festival
The 36th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) has announced their line-up to include five feature-length films from Korea - Choked, Stateless Things, Moving, From Seoul to Varanasi and The Day He Arrives.  HKIFF has also produced and will premiere four short films under the collective title of Beautiful 2012.  Korean director Kim Tae-yong (Late Autumn) joins China’s Gu Changwei, Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-Liang, and Hong Kong’s Ann Hui in this project.  (KoBiZ, February 29, 2012)


INTERVIEW

E J-Yong Roundtable Interview
Prior to a KCCUK screening of Actresses, acclaimed director E J-Yong sat to down to a group interview with Hangul Celluloid, MiniMiniMovies, London Korea Links and Eastern Kicks.  (Hangul Celluloid, February 23, 2012)


TRAILERS

Doomsday Book


Mirage



POSTERS

Hand in Hand

The Thieves


BOX OFFICE




(Modern Korean Cinema, February 26, 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-upReviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

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