A number of Korean sales at worldwide film markets this week, along with some festival, casting, and awards news. Some fantastic features and interviews to boot, as well as some trailers and posters as per usual. It seems Jang Jin will now be doing the Korean Saturday Night Live, while this sounds interesting does this mean he won't have time to make films anymore?
Enjoy!
KOREAN CINEMA NEWS
Major South Korean sales company Finecut has sold hit animation
Leafie to Mediterranea Productions for Italian-speaking territories at the Rome Film Festival’s Business Street market. Mediterranea Productions plans to release the film in Italy on 50 screens with Italian dubbing. (KOBIZ, November 3, 2011)
Jo Yeo Jeong to Bare it All Again in New Film
Filming for
Royal Concubine, which has garnered immense interest from the screenwriting stage to casting, will begin on November 3 with confirmed leads Jo Yeo Jeong and Kim Dong Wook. (enewsworld, November 3, 2011)
Korean Documentary The Color of Pain Invited to Int'l Film Fests
A Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg, praised Park Chan Wook who directed Old Boy (2003). Section TV met Steven Spielberg in Europe on the 6th. A reporter asked Steven Spielberg if he has ever watched Korean movies and he answered directly. Old Boy. (Korea.com, November 6, 2011)
Putting the 'Han' in Korean Cinema: Meta-narratives and Cultural Identity
Where are Korea's happy endings? If you have ever watched a Korean film you will know that they don't always conclude as they might have done if produced by Hollywood. The characters and their stories seem to be influenced by an invisible force that marks a film as typically "Korea". From its melodramas to revenge thrillers, there is something tragic and constant driving the Korean film culture, but what exactly? (hancinema.net, November 5, 2011)
First Live Comedy Program in the Country, Directed by Jang Jin
Cable channel tvN attempts a live comedy show. It has recently imported the rights to the American NBC comedy program
Saturday Night Live. The Korean
SNL is aiming for the 3rd of December. Director Jang Jin is the main writer for the Korean 'SNL'. tvN stated, "He is the main writer and director who is putting his passion in the scripts and continuity." (hancinema.net, November 8 2011)
Yoo Ji-tae Debuts as Feature Film Director
Actor Yoo Ji-tae is debuting as a movie director. He is in charge of the movie Sanseberia, which Lotte Entertainment is producing and distributing. According to his management, he completed the signing of contracts on November 8th and will start shooting sometime at the end of this year or next January. (hancinema.net, November 8, 2011)
9ers Pre-Sells Miss Conspirator
South Korean sales company 9ers Entertainment has done a raft of sales at the American Film Market (AFM) on titles including
Miss Conspirator, starring Ko Hyun-jung (
Woman on the Beach, 2006), according to UK-based trade magazine Screen International. (KOBIZ, November 7, 2011)
The nominations for the upcoming 32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards have been announced and
The Front Line,
War of the Arrows and
Silenced lead the pack. (AsianMediaWiki, November 6, 2011)
In the film
A Barefoot Dream, a failed Korean businessman trains a children's soccer team in strife-torn East Timor and helps the nation heal. Not only this, but four more interesting tales were told at the just concluded Korean Film Festival here. The tiny nation of South Korea can afford to only help heal a nondescript Timor. Yet like
A Barefoot Dream – based on a true story – shows, it is much more real and tangible than saving the world from aliens. (daijiworld.com, November 5, 2011)
Riding the Wave
Since the first theatrical release in the UK of Lee Myung-Se’s wickedly innovative crime thriller
Nowhere to Hide in 2001, South Korean cinema has emerged as one of the most dynamic, if not notorious, foreign national cinemas. At the time of its release, in the absence of any immediate points of reference, critics compared it with the best known Hong Kong action films and hailed its director as the next John Woo. (Glass, November 2, 2011)
Lee Byung-hun Mulling Historical Film Role
Actor Lee Byung-hun is considering appearing in a historical film, according to his agency BH Entertainment on Friday. "He's looking into the movie after being offered a role in it although nothing has been decided as of yet," an official at BH said of the pic tentatively named
I am the King of Joseon.
(asiae.co.kr, November 4, 2011)
Korean documentary The Color of Pain has been invited to two upcoming international film festivals, according to the movie's distributor Cinemadal on Friday. The official Facebook webpage of Cinemadal showed that Pain will be screened at the 13th annual Cinemanila International Film Festival to be held in Taguig in the Philippines from November 11 to 17. (asiae.co.kr, November 4, 2011)
Actor Cha Seung-won got the title, "The Best Icon of 2011". The "2011 Style Icon Awards" was held on November 3rd at CJ E&M Center in Seoul. Cha Seung-won won the "Style Icon of the Year" award, which is like the Grand Prize. The 4th Annual "Style Icon Awards" is one of its kind in Korea, choosing characters who've introduced a new paradigm to life and style within the year. (hancinema.net, November 3, 2011)
Films Probe Experimentalism, Human Rights
Korea has its fair share of thematic film festivals but a couple of upcoming events will offer moviegoers a unique opportunity to reflect on human rights in North Korea and the spirit of experimentalism in filmmaking. The Off and Free International Film Festival (OAF) will hold its third edition from Nov. 17 to 23 in Seoul, offering fans zany alternatives to mainstream franchises. (The Korea Times, November 3, 2011)
Only Second Time Around, but Korean Cinema is Definitely Down Under
South Korea and Australia are celebrating the last stretch of their Year of Friendship, with this year marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, bringing more attention to the second annual Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA). (Yonhap News Agency, November 7, 2011)
Feel The Film Emotion With These Korean Movie Songs
Korean movie songs rock and it may be quite hard to choose which the best song because there are so many to choose from. Nevertheless, here are six absolutely amazing songs you'll hear from your favorite Korean movies. (Screen Junkies, November 8, 2011)
Kwon Soon Keun, 70, went from one of South Korea’s biggest celebrities to a Canadian immigrant, working in obscurity in a factory and running a variety store, far from the spotlight. But through seven decades of drastic change, his love for drums and percussion persisted. His story will be featured in a short documentary called A Drummer’s Passion, part of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. (yorkregion.com, November 7, 2011)
CJ Adds in the Pipeline Trio
South Korean major CJ Entertainment Inc. has added three new titles to its already bulging American Film Market sales line-up. The additions are headed by sports drama
As One, a period piece about North and South Korea playing table tennis in a United Korea team. (Film Business Asia, November 4, 2011)
INTERVIEWS
Judy Ahn, Head of International Business, Showbox / MediaplexJudy AHhn is Head of International Business at Showbox / Mediaplex, the company responsible for the hit Korean War film
The Front Line. Directed by Jang Hun, the film has been selected as South Korea’s entry for consideration to be nominated to the Oscars foreign language film category. Kim Seong-hoon met with Ahn to talk about Showbox’s films and
The Front Line in particular. (KOBIZ, Nobember 7, 2011)
Dark, Brutal King of Pigs no Milquetoast Cartoon
You may love it or hate it. Regardless, animation director Yuen Sang-ho’s debut feature film The King of Pigs is different from anything you’ve been watching. (Joong Ang Daily, November 4, 2011)
The ‘Catcher’: Yoon Sung-hyun
Director Yoon Sung-hyun has been watching a lot of soccer games on TV lately. It’s always been his favorite sport, and he’s been an avid fan since he was a child. And though it’s only been two weeks since he won a prestigious film award, what pops in his head, when asked about recent days, is watching the sport, not winning his trophy. (
The Korea Herald, November 8, 2011)
TRAILERS
POSTERS
(Modern Korean Cinema, November 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.
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