Actor-artist Bek Hyun-jin selects 7 films for special section at Jeonju film fest

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

Thu, November 30, 2023 | 10:30

Films

Actor-artist Bek Hyun-jin selects 7 films for Jeonju film fest

Posted : 2023-04-28 17:16

Updated : 2023-04-30 15:30

Artist and actor Bek Hyun-jin / Courtesy of JIFF

By Kwak Yeon-soo

JEONJU ― Versatile artist Bek Hyun-jin, best known for playing the villain in the 2021 hit SBS drama "Taxi Driver," selected seven films as the programmer of Jeonju International Festival's (JIFF) special section "J Special: Programmer of the Year."

Bek is an all-around artist who held his first solo exhibition in 1996. As the vocalist of Uhuhboo Project, he is also part of the first generation of indie musicians in Korea, having worked on film soundtracks for auteurs Park Chan-wook and Hong Sang-soo.

As an actor, he has starred in a number of Korean films and dramas, including "Yourself and Yours" (2016), "Broker" (2022), "Tomorrow, With You" (2017) and "The Devil Judge (2021)."

"I wear many hats, but I finally accepted myself as an actor two or three years ago. After starring in the 2020 film 'Samjin Company English Class,' I started getting offers from drama productions. Before then, I mostly did indie movies," Bek said during a press conference for the special section held at Best Western Hotel in Jeonju, Friday.

"I must admit I was very lucky. I never took an audition of any kind because I hate competitions. Thankfully, I was given opportunities. There are three specific things I ask for when accepting roles in films and TV series ― 'I want to change my dialogue, I can't drive and I will only use Seoul dialect.'"

A scene from the 2002 film "Popee" / Courtesy of JIFF

Bek selected seven films ― the late trilogy of Spanish director Luis Bunuel ("The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie," The Phantom of Liberty" and "The Obscure Object of Desire"), two films that he starred in ("Gyeongju" and "Popee") and two shorts he directed ("Endless Joke" and "The End").

"When I was asked to be the programmer for a special section at this year's JIFF, I immediately thought of Luis Bunuel's late trilogy. I still check them out sometimes, so I thought it'd be nice to watch them on the big screen in theaters," he said.

"From my own films, I picked 'Gyeongju' and 'Popee' because I think there are very few people who watched them in theaters. I've worked with so-called master directors such as Park Chan-wook, Hong Sang-soo, Im Sang-soo and Ryoo Seung-wan, but I wanted to show films that are lesser known."

The artist explained that he decided to feature two short films ― "Endless Joke" and "The End" ― with "Popee" because it has a relatively short runtime of 63 minutes.

"I would like to make another video, or a short film, about death or end-of-life experiences in order to complete 'The End' trilogy," he said.

Asked about the driving force behind multitasking, he said, "I'm constantly distracted by insatiable curiosity. It may sound ironic, but the key to doing many things at once is that I don't try to do anything."

yeons.kwak@koreatimes.co.kr