Online film screening bolsters cultural exchanges with 7 countries
By Yi Whan-woo
Seven films including international award-winning pieces from Bulgaria, Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Peru, Russia and Turkey were showcased here during a 10-day online screening until Dec. 13.
Co-organized by the embassies of the seven countries and the Korea Foundation (KF), the KF Online World Cinema Week 2020 was held to encourage cultural exchanges and global cooperation.
The Korea Foundation (KF), a foreign-ministry-affiliated organization tasked with public diplomacy, co-hosted the KF Online World Cinema Week 2020 with the embassies in Korea of Bulgaria, Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Peru, Russia and Turkey from Dec. 4 to 13. / Courtesy of KF
The KF is a foreign ministry-affiliated organization tasked with public diplomacy.
The screening featured a film from each country ― “Letters from Antarctica” (2019) from Bulgaria, “The Birders: A Melodic Journey Through Northern Colombia” (2019) from Colombia, “Photocopy” (2017) from Egypt, “Captain Abu Raed” (2007) from Jordan, “Sigo Siendo” (2013) from Peru, “The White Nights” (2017) from Russia and “Commitment-Asli” (2019) from Turkey.
The films were screened on Naver TV with Korean and English subtitles available.
In separate video commentaries, the ambassadors to Korea thanked the KF for organizing the festival while briefly explaining their respective countries' films.
Directed by Stanislav Donchev, “Letters from Antarctica” is about a single mother who lies to her eight-year-old son that his father is on an Antarctic expedition, because she is concerned about the son being emotionally hurt from knowing his father has actually passed away.
A former National Geographic Scholarship recipient, director Gregg Bleakney comes up with experimental road trip format in his documentary “The Birders: A Melodic Journey Through Northern Colombia” to explore the beautiful scenery of Colombia through the eyes of a bird observation guide and a National Geographic photographer.
Directed by Tamer Ashry, “Photocopy” is about a retired man who manages a photocopy shop in Cairo, and after he learns about the extinction of dinosaurs he is driven to change his lifestyle, which he sees “becoming extinct.”
The film won multiple awards, including Best Arab Feature Film in the El Gouna Film Festival; and Best Film in the Malmo Arab Film Festival, Tripoli Film Festival and Geneva International Oriental Film Festival, all between 2017 and 2019. It was also the opening film of the 2020 Arab Film Festival in Korea in July.
Directed by Amin Matalqa, “Captain Abu Raed” was the first Jordanian film to be submitted to the 81st Academy Awards in 2009 for Best Foreign Language Film. It was the winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Heartland International Film Festival and Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, all in 2008.
It centers on an old airport janitor, who after finding a captain's hat in the trash, wants to give hope to children in his poor neighborhood and weaves imaginary stories of his world adventures.
Director Javier Corcuera introduces diversity of black and native Peruvian music in his documentary “Sigo Siendo.” It won the Best Documentary category in 2013 Lima Latin American Film Festival and Best Editing category in the 2015 Moscow International Documentary Film Festival DOKer.
Based on a short story by the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The White Nights” was directed by Andrei Bogatyrev. It is about a dreamy young man, Fyodor, who falls in love with a girl in St. Petersburg but is later disappointed because the girl's heart was taken and broken by another man.
In “Commitment-Asli,” a young mother, Asli faces her secrets she has been avoiding after she finds a nanny to get back to work. It was directed by Semih Kaplanoglu, one of the most acclaimed writers, directors and producers in Turkey.