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The 17th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), founded in 1993, is China’s only non-specialized competitive international film festival accredited by FIAPF (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films). The festival was held from June 14 to 22nd this year, with 9 Korean titles among its programming for 2014.

 

The Korean films that were programmed include The Face Reader (2013), Marriage Blue (2013), The Fatal Encounter, and The Target to name a few. Only The Target and LEE Yong-seung’s 10 Minutes were in the competition section, in which 10 Minutes  won the Asian New Talent Award. This award which launched in 2004, aims to find and discover new and upcoming young directors from around Asia, and highlight their first and or second feature film. 10 Minutes is LEE’s first feature film.

 

10 Minutes’s plot surrounds a character named Ho-chan who interns at a government office. Although he has dreams to become a TV producer, he has chosen the stable life. One day, he is offered a full-time position and while he is considering taking the permanent offer, someone else is given the position instead. The film depicts how difficult it is to find employment in the current society, especially in Korea, and the constant struggle between dream and reality. The film has gone to various international film festivals including Busan, Berlin, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

 

SIFF’s competition section has three awards: the prestigious Golden Goblet Award, Asian New Talent Award, and international shorts based MOBILE SIFF award. At last year’s SIFF, ROH Deok’s Very Ordinary Couple (2013) received the Asian New Talent Award, and PARK Moon-chil’s My Place won the Golden Goblet. Korean films continue to grow in popularity and appeal to the audiences in Shanghai.