The heartwarming story of two identical twins from Busan being adopted and brought up in separate continents made it into London freesheet the Metro yesterday. Samantha and Anais, having successfully raised $30,000 for phase 1 of an autobiographical documentary project on Kickstarter, are now looking to raise $80,000 for post-production. They are over a quarter … [Read More]
Category: General film news (page 6)
BBC covers North Korean cinema
There’s a good article on North Korean cinema posted yesterday by Helier Cheung on to the BBC website: Ten things: North Korea’s film industry. The article draws on the work of Johannes Schönherr and on Lynn Lee and James Leong’s documentary The Great North Korean Picture Show which screened in Bermondsey a couple of months ago. … [Read More]
The tweet that launched a podcast
I was watching Nobody’s Daughter Haewon as part of the BFI London Film Festival this year, and was rather enjoying it. I’ve done a little review of it here. It was nice to see some familiar locations in the film. And then I saw something even more familiar: one of the characters in the film … [Read More]
CFP for South Korean Screen Culture Conference 2014
In 2014 the “Years of Radical Change” Korean Screen Culture Conference moves to Sheffield, after two successful years at SOAS. The Call for Papers has just been issued. CFP for South Korean Screen Culture Conference 2014 Friday 13 – Saturday 14 June 2014 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom Call for presentations: The Korean Screen … [Read More]
The LKFF 2013 Programme is announced
The countdown is on to the 2013 London Korean Film Festival. There’s plenty for everyone, and I’m sure once the detailed timetable is announced it will be difficult to choose your priorities. For me, the film to see is E J-yong’s Behind the Camera. I’ve never yet been disappointed by a film of his, and … [Read More]
You’ve seen the film, now read the book
The Korean Film Council recently publicised on its website the new “Book to Film” initiative aimed at bringing together the film and the publishing industries. Of course, the practice adapting a book for the big screen is almost as old as the movie industry itself, and some of South Korea’s most successful movies have been … [Read More]
DVD Bang launches in London
I’m wondering why no-one has done this before. DVD-Bang The UK’s first South Korean 24hr film rental shop and cinema rooms. From the basements of Seoul’s 24hr neon streets, DVD-Bang presents a new cinema experience to rise out of the London smog of pop-ups and movie theatres in a buzz of electricity. Put together by … [Read More]
Collaboration and adaptation for inspiration – the second SOAS Years of Radical Change conference
SOAS’s second Years of Radical Change conference, held 31 May – 1 June this year, expanded its remit to deal with Korean screen culture in its widest sense. We are used to conferences about South Korean films, but this year TV and video games were among the topics discussed. And on the second day of … [Read More]
A look at the 2013 Terracotta Far East Film Festival line-up
Three Korean films including the hit thriller The Berlin File are included in the line-up for this year’s Terracotta Festival. Saharial reviews the schedule. It’s that fantastic time of the year again when the Terracotta Film Festival hits London, and the line up announced last week is really exciting, especially when tied in with the … [Read More]
Years of Radical Change: Korean Screen Culture – a 2-day conference at SOAS, 31 May-1 June
Those who attended the free one-day Korean film seminar in SOAS’s Vernon Square building May last year won’t need persuasion. This year, it has expanded to two days, and is in the main Russell Square building. Free, but advance registration is required. Years of Radical Change: Korean Screen Culture Date: Friday 31 May & Saturday … [Read More]
Twinsters – what a compelling story
On February 21, 2013, Samantha, an American actor living in Los Angeles, received a message via Facebook that would drastically change her life. It was from Anaïs, a French fashion design student living in London. Anaïs’ friends viewed a YouTube video featuring Samantha. They were immediately blown away by the identical appearance of Samantha & … [Read More]
Park Chan-wook picks his cultural highlights in the Observer
Park Chan-wook is featured in “On My Radar” in today’s Observer, to mark the release of Stoker. He’s generous enough to plug Kim Ji-woon’s The Last Stand and Ryu Seung-wan’s The Berlin File, and says he has read all of the “dark, scary and erotic” novels of Sarah Waters that have been translated into Korean. … [Read More]
RIP Park Chul-soo
So sad that Park Chul-soo, director of 301, 302 and Green Chair, has died aged 64. His most recent film, B.E.D, premiered at the Busan festival last year. Park, born 20 November 1948, was run over by a drunk driver in the early hours of 19 February as he was walking home from the set … [Read More]
Jeonju Film Fest to focus on Kim Young-ha
This is the kind of news I like. This year the program of the Jeonju International Film Festival will include “short films based on Korean writers’ short stories, thereby creating opportunities for good Korean literature to be introduced overseas. The focus this year will be KIM Young-ha. KIM Young-ha’s novel, I have a right to … [Read More]
Looking back at 2012: Hallyu and entertainment news
In the second of four round-ups of links to news which caught our eye in 2012, we focus on hallyu-related stories from around the world, some of the local entertainment industry stories plus a quick look at the film industry. UK. The Guardian put together an entertaining photoshop when London Mayor Boris Johnson claimed he … [Read More]
Jiseul – a film to watch out for in 2013
It won awards at Busan where it premiered in the 2012 festival, and it will be showing at Sundance and Rotterdam: Jiseul (지슬) – a sombre film about the 1948 Jeju Uprising, written and directed by Jeju resident O Muel (오멸). It might not be an easy film to watch, but it’s an important part … [Read More]