Reel Talk: Busan City vs. Busan Film Festival

Every Friday I appear on a segment called Reel Talk for Arirang TV on the 2 o'clock news, mostly covering Korean cinema.

Just over a week ago, a controversy erupted when Busan City asked the director of the Busan International Film Festival to resign. Events have unfolded in quick fashion, and for this week's Reel Talk I talked about what has happened so far and the possible implications of the situation.

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Coming Attractions: THE AVIAN KIND is a Brooding Kind of Film Fowl

By Rex Baylon

Shin Youn-sik is back with a new film in February titled The Avian Kind. Over the last few years, Shin got quite a bit of attention for a pair of films that both premiered at the Busan Film Festival, the contemplative mystery drama The Russian Novel (2012) and the art-meets-life gangster picture Rough Play (2013).

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New Korean Films: Trampled Flowers (2015 Week 4)

Shoot Me in the Heart

(내 심장을 쏴라)

By Fabien Schneider

Soo-Myung witnessed the traumatic experience of his mother’s suicide, and has since become a regular of a psychiatric hospital for the last six years. He has developed a form of schizophrenia, but he’s as honest as possible. One day, a new patient comes to share his room: Seung-Min is sound of mind, but has been sent here for no reason by some relatives of his. His only wish is to run away from this place as soon as possible.

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News: All Aboard! SNOWPIERCER Spoof Coming This Year

By Pierce Conran

The most well known Korean film of the last few years is coming back to screens, reimagined as an erotic parody. Bong Man-dae, the director of Cinderella (2006) and Playboy Bong (2013), though most well known as a purveyor of softcore erotica, is turning Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer into Rice Cake Soup Train (Ddeok-gook-yeol-cha, 떡국열차). That title's a bit of a mouthful (sorry, had to do it) but it makes more sense in Korean. If and when they decide this could target a foreign audience, I'm sure they'll come up with something better.

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Review: Stylish And Well Performed, SCARLET INNOCENCE Surprises And Delights

By Pierce Conran

Adapted from a Korean folk tale and starting off as a softly lensed romantic melodrama, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Scarlet Innocence, the latest work from noted visual stylist Yim Pil-sung, must be primed for a local audience. Yet this surprising genre-bending effort, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, holds off from showing its true colors until it has lulled you into a comfortable reverie. A successful exercise in subverting expectations, Scarlet Innocence may also prove a watershed moment for Yim, an acclaimed director whose high profile and gorgeously designed works have so far failed to translate into box office returns.

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News: BIFF Director Stays on, Censorship Concerns Linger

By Pierce Conran

Click here to read about the events leading up to this story.

It appears that Busan Film Festival director Lee Yong-kwan will not be leaving his post for the moment. Lee and BIFF executive programmer Kim Ji-seok met with Busan City mayor Suh Byung-soo and culture and tourism bureau director-general Kim Kwang-hee on Tuesday.

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Review: GYEONGJU, Not Just a Place But an Idea

By Rex Baylon

“You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood... back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time – back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”

- Thomas Wolfe

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News: Lotte Picks up TERMINATOR, Still No Release for MEMORIES OF THE SWORD

By Pierce Conran

In an unusual move, Paramount announced earlier this month that their summer tentpole Terminator: Genisys would not be distributed by their usual partner CJ Entertainment in Korea. That position has now been filled by Lotte Entertainment, which will release the film in July.

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Coming Attractions: Can EMPIRE OF LUST Keep the Fires of the Period Drama Burning?

By Rex Baylon

The period drama boom in the Korean film industry seems to show no signs of abating as March will see the release of Empire of Lust, Ahn Sang-hoon's third feature after Arang (2006) and Blind (2011). The film stars Shin Ha-kyun (Save the Green Planet, 2003), playing Kim Min-jae, the supreme commander of the Joseon dynasty, Jang Hyuk (The Flu, 2013) as the king's son, and Kang Ha-neul (Mourning Grave) as Min-jae's hedonistic son.

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News: Bong Joon-ho to Sit on Berlinale International Jury

By Pierce Conran

The Berlin International Film Festival just held a press conference to announced the full jury for the international competition of its 65th edition next month. Bong is also part of this year's Berlinale Talents, where he will give a talk on transnational filmmaking. His last film Snowpiercer was screened at Berlinale in 2014.

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News: HAN GONG-JU Named Best Film by Korean Film Reporters Association

By Pierce Conran

Lee Su-jin's Han Gong-ju has been named the Best Korean Film of 2014 by the Korean Film Reporters Association. The group also voted the film's star, Chun Woo-hee, as last year's Best Actress, while veteran Choi Min-sik was deemed Best Actor for his performance in the record-breaking period smash Roaring Currents.

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News: Busan Asks BIFF Director to Step Down, He Refuses (2nd UPDATE)

By Pierce Conran

2nd Update (01/27) - Though the basic facts remains the same (refer to the original post and 1st update below), here is some clarification on the current situation, as explained in a Screen Daily article:

• Last Friday (January 23rd), BIFF Director Lee Yong-kwan met with Jung Gyung-jin, Busan's vice mayor for administrative affairs, and culture and tourism bureau director-general Kim Kwang-hee. Citing the poor results of a recent audit (which were not shared with Lee), they suggested he should step down. Lee inquired as to whether they were conveying Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo's opinion. They confirmed this to be the case.

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