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Category Archives: Animation

London Korean Film Festival 2007 programme announced

11-Oct-07
Not to be confused with the excellent range of Korean films on offer at the 51st BFI London Film Festival in late October, this is the second London Korean Film Festival to be organised by the Korean Cultural Centre and the Korean Culture and Content Agency (KOCCA). Last year they sprung it on us at the last minute, and it was the all-too-familiar queue-up-and-hope-you-manage-to-get-a-seat scenario. This year, things are a lot more professional. We knew it was happening months in advance, and, hurrah, you can actually buy tickets in advance. The bad news is that the opening and closing screenings are pretty much block-booked for VIPs, so get in there quick. While the BFI London Film Festival has a good range ...
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London Korean Film Festival 2007 programme details

10-Oct-07
Here's the running order. Some commentary to follow tomorrow. Breath (숨) (12A) (2007) Dir Kim Ki-duk (김기덕) 84 min / Opening Gala Special Preview 19:30 / Introduced by special guest Ambassador Dr. Cho Yoon-Je of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea 2 Nov 07 / 19:30 / Cinema 1 The latest film from the acclaimed director of Spring Summer Autumn Winter and Spring, Palme d'Or nominee Breath garnered a 10 minute standing ovation on its premiere in Cannes earlier this year. This gentle, offbeat love story centres on the quirky relationship between bored housewife and budding interior decorator Yeon and her unusual new best friend, suicidal death row prisoner Jang Jin. A beautiful and touching film that cements Kim Ki-duk's status as a master filmmaker. The ...
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K-film at the BFI London Film Festival

28-Sep-07
Not to be confused with the Korean Film Festival at the Barbican at the beginning of November (on which more later), the BFI London Film Festival in October has an excellent spread of recent Korean film. The Highlight: Secret Sunshine (Lee Chang-dong, 2007, starring Jeon Do-Yeon, Song Kang-Ho, 142 mins) "A devastating account of a woman's mental turmoil." For those coming to Korean film for the first time, this is possibly the most important film to come out of Korea this year, partly because it marks Lee's return to film-making after 5 years, and partly because it won Jeon Do-yeon best actress at Cannes. Mon 22 Oct 20:30, Odeon West End 1 £11.00 Tue 23 Oct 12:30, Odeon West End 2 £11.00 Links: More details on the ...
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North Korean animation

09-Oct-06
Radio 4's weekly travel programme, Excess Baggage, had a slot on North Korea on Saturday morning (7 Oct). It was an interview with Guy Delisle, a French animator. Here's the blurb on the programme from the BBC website North Korea is one of the most secretive countries in the world, with few visitors, especially westerners. It is however in desperate need of foreign investment and in recent years has opened its doors to some 'labour intensive' work from Europe. The field of animation where thousands of individual frames need to be drawn has benefited from it. Guy Delisle, a French animator, travelled to the capital Pyongyang to supervise the drawing of cartoons and talks about his experiences in ...
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Pororo to the Cookie Castle

05-Oct-06
I thought I ought to see at least one Korean animation as part of the recent film festival, so I took pot luck with the one that best fitted my Saturday schedule and ended up watching Pororo to the Cookie Castle. In the foyer of the Odeon Covent Garden was a 4-foot high penguin (left), beside which Korean kiddies were having their photos taken. Cute. A little bit of searching on the internet reveals that Pororo is quite an institution. It's a children's TV programme, lasting about 7 minutes, a sort of Magic Roundabout or Captain Pugwash but without, on the evidence of this feature-length Christmas special, the undertones of drugs and obscure sexual practices which give those latter programmes a bit ...
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A seriously cool thing about Seoul

23-Aug-06
Having made a couple of recent posts about how expensive Seoul is to live, I'd like to balance it with a positive post. Every now and then I see articles about things going on in Seoul which makes me want to be there. And this article in the Chosun is one of them. Robot Taekwon V, the classic robot cartoon from the 1970s, has been digitally remastered and is now showing in Seoul. Some background is available at wikipedia, KOFIC, twitch and koreanfilm.org. It's a film I've always wanted to see. It's probably aimed at 9-year-olds, but occasionally one needs a bit of escapism. And right now I need a lot of escapism because in preparation for the BAKS conference in ...
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Korean animation focuses on remakes

12-Apr-06
Wouldn't it be great if the Korean animation industry could come up with something better than My Beautiful Girl Mari or Wonderful Days / Sky Blue? Something to rival Miyazaki. There's obviously a wealth of creative talent in the Korean film industry, but that creativity has never seemed to extend to truly great animated features. Remaking The Classic or Jewel in the Palace as cartoons doesn't seem to me to be the way to address this problem, though it may generate export earnings. Update: Since KOFIC rebuilt its website you can no longer link to anything useful on its site. You need to find news item number 366 dated 23 March 2006 Related posts:North Korean animation Radio 4's weekly travel programme, Excess ...
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