As I’ve been logging the various publications during the construction of LKL’s K-lit hub, I’ve been keeping an eye on those stories which appear most often in English translation, whether in an anthology or a standalone publication. Charles Montgomery has always said that When the Buckwheat Blooms is the most published story, and I’ve yet … [Read More]
Tag: Studio MWP
Korean animations at the Annecy Festival
Thanks to Jordan, a member of the LKL Facebook Group, for alerting me to news that I’ve been eagerly anticipating for 5 years: the international premiere (I think) of The Shaman Sorceress, Studio Meditation with Pencil’s adaptation of the short story by Kim Dong-ni. It is screening at the Annecy Festival, where previous releases by … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 11: a visit to Studio MWP
Daehakro, Seoul, Monday 8 June. This year’s trip to Korea had been full of pleasant surprises: people I had not expected to meet, things I had not been expecting to see. But the most pleasant surprise of all had been an invitation to visit Studio Meditation with a Pencil, creators of my favourite Korean animated … [Read More]
Google Korea remembers Hwang Sun-won
Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of Hwang Sun-won’s birth on 26 March, 1915. Google Korea celebrated with one of their doodles, illustrating Hwang’s most well-known story, The Shower (소나기, 1959). The story was adapted as a movie by Lee Jin-mo in 1978; and Studio Meditation with Pencil is currently working on an animated version, which … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: This Road Called Life
Following on from the success of their feature-length animation Green Days, Studio MWP worked with Korean TV broadcaster EBS to produce a trio of short films which adapt three familiar short stories which are studied by most Koreans in high school: Yi Hyo-seok’s Buckwheat Season, Kim Yu-jeong’s Spring, Spring, and A Lucky Day by Hyun … [Read More]
LKL’s latest must-see film of the LKFF 2014: The Road Called Life
It’s taking a while to go through the LKFF 2014 programme to prioritise those films which I simply *have* to go to see. So thanks to Frances Yoo from Studio Meditation with a Pencil for alerting me to the title that instantly has gone from “when I get round to it, I’ll look to see … [Read More]
Buckwheat Season to get the Green Days treatment at Busan Film Fest
One of Korea’s most famous short stories, Lee Hyo-seok’s Buckwheat Season / When Buckwheat Flowers Bloom (메밀꽃 필 무렵, 1936) is to be brought to the cinema by the creators of Green Days (Korean title 소중한 날의 꿈, 2010). Green Days was LKL’s film of the year 2010 and was the stand-out film at the … [Read More]
Green Days: a charming look at the dreams and uncertainties of youth
In the London Korean Film Festival there is always a selection of long and short animations to showcase that part of the Korea motion picture industry which otherwise does not get much screen time. This year, the organisers made a controversial decision: to promote the main animation feature as “a Korean cousin to Studio Ghibli … [Read More]