27th Busan Int'l Film Festival kicks off attracting stars, huge crowds of fans The opening ceremony of the 27th Busan International Film Festival is held at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, Wednesday. YonhapFestival opens in full scale with Iranian film on human kindnessBy Kwak Yeon-sooBUSAN ― The 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) kicked off Wednesday for a 10-day run, with thousands of actors, directors, other film industry members and fans packing the Busan Cinema Center for the opening ceremony.After two years of scaled-down events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this edition promises to be fully normalized for the first time in three years. A raft of stars have been confirmed to attend the festival, including actors Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Daniel Dae Kim and producer Jon Landau.A total of 242 films from 71 countries, including 89 world premieres, will be screened at this year's BIFF, slightly more than 223 films showcased last year.“Tickets for the opening ceremony have been sold out. We hope the total attendance fully recovers to pre-pandemic levels, but certain audiences are still hesitant about coming to theaters. We expect seat occupancy rOct 5, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Busan International Film Festival opens Wednesday A poster for the 27th Busan International Film Festival / Courtesy of the BIFFBy Kwak Yeon-sooThe 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) starts on Wednesday, returning to its full configuration after being held in a scaled-down format during the COVID-19 pandemic. Film screenings and other related events will take place mostly offline in the southeastern port city of Busan through Oct. 14.The opening ceremony will be held in the outdoor theater of the Busan Cinema Center with some 4,000 film industry members taking part in the event. Actors Ryu Jun-yeol and Jeon Yeo-been will be the co-hosts of the ceremony.“Scent of Wind” by Iranian director Hadi Mohaghegh will be the opening film at this year's BIFF, followed by the cinematic works of some 240 directors from 71 countries, including the closing film, “A Man,” by Japanese filmmaker Ishikawa Kei. The number of selected films in 2022 rose slightly from the 223 films at the 2021 festival.While many foreign actors and directors were unable to come to Asia's biggest film festival during the last two years, dOct 4, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Jung Ryeo-won to attend London, San Diego film festivals with 'The Woman in the White Car' By Lee Gyu-leeA poster for the thriller, “The Woman in the White Car" / Courtesy of SLLActress Jung Ryeo-won will be attending this year's BFI London Film Festival and San Diego International Film Festival with her latest film “The Woman in the White Car.” The actress' agency, H& Entertainment, said that the thriller, in which Jung is the lead, has been invited to two international film festivals. Jung will attend the screening of the film at the 66th edition of the London event, the largest international film festival in the United Kingdom, held from Oct. 5 to 16.The film has been invited for the Thrill strand program of the festival and will have three screenings at the Prince Charles Cinema and the ODEON Luxe West End on Oct. 7 and 8. Tickets for all three screenings have sold out even before the opening of the festival. The actress will then head to the United States for the 22nd San Diego International Film Festival, held from Oct. 19 to 23. She will be attending the festival's official events, including the red carpet event. The thriller, led by newcomer KOct 4, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
'6/45' sets audience record for Korean films in Vietnam The poster of Korean comic film "6/45" is seen in this photo provided by its Korean distributor Sidus. YonhapMilitary comedy "6/45" became the most-viewed Korean film of all time in Vietnam in just 10 days of its release, the movie's Korean distributor said Tuesday.Since its release on Sept. 23, "6/46" topped the Vietnamese box office in the first week and had attracted 1.32 million of movie viewers as of Sunday, raking up $4.46 million in revenue, according to Sidus.It surpassed the previous record set by Korean horror zombie flick "Peninsula" (2020), which garnered 1.2 million in admissions and sold $3.33 million in ticket sales. Directed by Park Gyu-tae, and starring Go Kyung-pyo and Lee Yi-kyung, "6/45" depicts a comical encounter between South and North Korean soldiers over the 5.7 billion won ($4 million) lottery that crosses the military demarcation line on the wind.The comedy surrounding the heavily-fortified border drew a good response in other Asian countries, opening in second place in Taiwan since coming out on Sept. 30, Sidus said. (Yonhap)Oct 4, 2022
'New Normal' invited to three overseas film festivals Scenes from the film, “New Normal” / Courtesy of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film FestivalBy Kwak Yeon-sooDirector Jung Bum-shik's new film, “New Normal,” has been invited to three film festivals: the BFI London International Film Festival, the Warsaw International Film Festival and the Leeds International Film Festival. Jung is best known for his 2018 horror thriller, “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.”Suspense thriller “New Normal,” the closing film of the 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, follows six people whom each bear their loneliness and exhaustion in strange tales of everyday horror during the social media-obsessed pandemic era. The film stars Choi Ji-woo, Lee Yoo-mi, Choi Min-ho, Jung Dong-won, Pyo Ji-hoon and Ha Da-in.At the 66th BFI London International Film Festival, which will take place Oct. 5-16, Jung's film will be screened in the “Cult” section. Director Park Chan-wook's “Decision to Leave” has been invited and will be screened in the “Headline Gala” section.The 38thOct 3, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
INTERVIEW Actor Lee Bum-soo talks about bringing comedy to screen during pandemic Actor Lee Bum-soo in a scene from the film, “Hometown” / Courtesy of JNC Media Group By Kwak Yeon-sooWith “Honest Candidate 2,” “Life is Beautiful” and the upcoming “Hometown,” the comedy genre is making waves with audiences these days. Actor Lee Bum-soo said he felt a lot of responsibility in wanting to make a comedy to help people get through these uncertain times.“During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were not many reasons to laugh. I also needed a break from reality at a difficult time,” he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. “Hometown” tells the story of Ki-sae (Song Sae-byeok), a failed comedian and son of a crime boss who returns to his hometown where he unexpectedly inherits his father's position as the ringleader. In the film, Lee plays the role of Kang-don, the underboss who kills Ki-sae's father and wants to send Ki-sae away from the town so he can inherit the throne.Lee said of the comedy genre, “This is a genre that I love. It allows me tOct 3, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Action comedy film becomes 3rd Korean flick to top 6 mil. admissions in 2022 This photo shows the promotional poster for the Korean film "Confidential Assignment 2: International" at a multiplex in Seoul, Sept. 12. Yonhap"Confidential Assignment 2: International," the action-comedy sequel to a 2017 hit, became the third Korean film to top 6 million tickets sold on Sunday.According to the film's distributor, CJ ENM, the film, starring Hyun Bin and Yoo Hae-jin, reached over the 6 million mark at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, 26 days after its premiere.It joined "The Roundup" and "Hansan: Rising Dragon" in the 6-million club among Korean flicks in 2022. "Confidential Assignment 2" also moved past "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" as the fourth-most successful film in Korea this year.The sequel film features a special trilateral investigative project of South Korea, North Korea and the United States to catch a villainous criminal.Hyun made his return to the silver screen as the North Korean agent Lim Chol-ryong, with Yoo as South Korean detective Kang Jin-tae and Daniel Henney as Jack, an FBI agent.The first installment of "Confidential Assignment" drew 7.8 millOct 2, 2022
INTERVIEW Ra Mi-ran's comedic talents shine in 'Honest Candidate 2' Actress Ra Mi-ran / Courtesy of NEW By Kwak Yeon-sooActress Ra Mi-ran, a late bloomer who made her film debut in “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” (2005) at the age of 30, made a big impression in the role of a fast-talking politician who suddenly cannot lie anymore after her grandmother's wish comes true in “Honest Candidate.”The 2020 film saw moderate success at the box office, reaching over 1.5 million moviegoers, despite a huge drop in theater attendance at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ra earned critical acclaim for her distinctive style of comedy ― high-energy slapstick with bizarre facial expressions ― and won the Best Actress Award at the 41st Blue Dragon Film Awards in 2021.“I was overwhelmed to see all the positive feedback for 'Honest Candidate,' which gave me the courage to return in its follow-up. Some might ask, 'Why make a sequel to a film that only attracted over 1.5 million viewers?' But for me, it felt like surpassing 5 million,” she said duringSep 30, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Multi-genre film 'Daemuga' adds shamanic voice to hip-hop Park Sung-woong in a scene from the film "Daemuga" / Courtesy of Pan Cinema By Kwak Yeon-soo“Daemuga” stands apart from other films not only because of its surrealistic touch, but also by blending the genres of comedy, drama, mystery and crime.The multi-genre film revolves around three ill-fated shamans ― Ma Seong-jun (Park Sung-woong), Gangnam (Yang Hyun-min) and Shin Nam (Ryu Gyung-soo) ― who are each tasked with performing a shamanistic exorcism ritual known as “gut.” Their shared goal is to stop Son Ik-soo (Jung Kyung-ho), a ruthless gang leader, from taking advantage of the opportunities arising from a village redevelopment project.Director Lee Han-jong, who turned his previous short film “Daemuga” into a feature-length movie of the same name, explained that he wanted to touch upon numerous social issues, including youth unemployment, domestic violence and housing crisis by using the protagonists. He uses the protagonists' struggles to document different aspectSep 28, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Nam Joo-hyuk returns to big screen in crime action 'Remember' A scene from the film, "Remember" / Courtesy of Acemaker MovieworksBy Kwak Yeon-sooNam Joo-hyuk is returning to the big screen for the first time in two years as an innocent young man who becomes embroiled in a murder plot in “Remember,” directed by Lee Il-hyung, best known for his 2016 crime action film, “A Violent Prosecutor.”A Korean remake of Atom Egoyan's 2015 Nazi-hunter film of the same title, “Remember” revolves around Pil-joo (Lee Sung-min), an old man with dementia who lost his family during Japan's colonial rule of Korea (1910-45). He goes in search of vengeance against pro-Japan collaborators, whom he believes were responsible for the deaths of his family 60 years ago.Unable to drive safely due to memory loss, Pil-joo asks In-kyu (Nam), a cash-strapped man in his 20s, to be his driver for a week without sharing details about his secret scheme. But In-kyu becomes wrongfully accused of murder and ends up accompanying the old man to try to stop his killing and prove his own innocence.Nam, who made his first public appearance in months afteSep 27, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
