M-Line Launches DONGJU, SPIRITS’ HOMECOMING at EFM
Feb 16, 2016
Writer
by Pierce Conran
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THE BACCHUS LADY Premieres in Panorama Section
With a mix of festival titles, Korean Academy of Film Arts productions and genres spanning period drama, animation and more, M-Line Distribution has brought a comprehensive lineup of Korean cinema to the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin this year. Leading their slate is E J-yong’s latest film The Bacchus Lady, a KAFA production featuring YOUN Yuh-jung as an elderly prostitute which is screening in the Berlinale’s Panorama section.
Among the other major M-Line titles at EFM are DONGJU; The Portrait of A Poet, a black and white Colonial Era drama from The Throne director LEE Joon-ik. On the back of LEE’s reputation as a director, the film has received some interest from festival distributors and European buyers. Meanwhile, Asian distributors are also paying attention due to the film’s rising young star KANG Ha-neul, one of the stars of last year’s hit youth comedy Twenty. DONGJU; The Portrait of A Poet opens in Korea on February 17th.
Next week will see the release of Spirits’ Homecoming, another M-Line vying for attention in Berlin. This crowd-funded picture from CHO Jung-rae examines the plight of comfort women who served Japanese soldiers during World War II, a hot button issue in contemporary Korea.