First of 4 Korean Actors to Visit British Capital in 2013
Fresh off its barnstorm 2012, when it staged its Year of 12 Directors during which it invited a prominent Korean director every month for a brief retrospective, the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) has kicked off its similar 2013 program for actors in grand style. Acclaimed actress
MOON So-ri was the first guest for the KCCUK’s Year of 4 Actors program.
MOON rose to prominence following her role in
LEE Chang-dong’s contemporary classic
Peppermint Candy (1999) and later cemented her status as one of the top international actresses by appearing in LEE’s subsequent film
Oasis (2002) as a woman suffering from cerebral palsy. The role earned her the much-coveted Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Actor or Actress from the Venice International Film Festival.
A retrospective of MOON’s career was held during the early months of the year in London, which included works such as
The President’s Barber,
Oasis,
Peppermint Candy,
A Good Lawyer’s Wife and
Sagwa (2005). A final screening for
HaHaHa took place in early April and MOON visited London to greet fans and take part in some special events.
The screening was followed by a Q&A session moderated by renowned critic and programmer Tony RAYNS. She also took part in a round table interview with various UK critics representing sites such as Hangul Celluloid, MiniMiniMovie, Korean Class Massive, London Korea Times, EasternKicks, Cine_Asia and Asian Global Impact. The session was translated by noted film professor CHOI Jin-hee, author of the book ‘The South Korean Film Renaissance’.
Later this year, Korean film fans in the UK will have the opportunity to meet other major Korean stars, including
JEON Do-yeon,
CHOI Min-shik and
HA Jung-woo, as part of the KCCUK’s Year of 4 Actors event.