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By HAN Sunhee

After spending a pleasant moment with her father, Jinhee is taken to an orphanage. Her father tells her as he's leaving, “be nice to kids here,” but Jin-hee can't believe that she is abandoned in this strange place. She refuses to eat and tries to escape in order to return to her father, but her efforts are futile. Gradually, she adapts to the life in the orphanage, and comes to realize that kids there are taken on a journey one by one with a stranger. Jin-hee now waits her turn to be taken away.

A Brand New Life is based on the personal experiences of the director, Ounie LECOMTE, who was adopted to France in 1975. When she completed the screenplay based on her own experiences, she encountered director LEE Chang-dong, who was visiting France for the release of Secret Sunshine, and took the opportunity to show him the script. Upon reading the script, LEE was so compelled by it, how it could touch a wide range of audiences and decided to produce it. For the director LECOMTE, who doesn't have detailed memories from her childhood in the ‘70s, LEE infused more lively details of the script, such as suggesting the song of Jin-hee, “You May Not Know”, which was a Korean popular song at the time.

Set in an orphanage as a main stage and casting amateurs and child actors, this film distinctively took a different way of making the film during the production stage. However, the director skillfully leads the narrative in a persuasive way by observing the children of an orphanage, such as a physically handicapped child who has stayed in the orphanage for a long time because of his disability, a child who dreams of being adopted by a foreigner and a child who still believes his parents will come back for him. Although some conflicts occur in the orphanage, the film doesn't dramatically amplify them because the conflicts between Jin-hee and kids around her are less essential than the psychological conflicts between Jin-hee and the surroundings.

KIM Sae-ron, starring as Jinhee, deserves to be mentioned above all. Her dazzling performance stands out in this small film. One scene in particular, in which she smashes a doll and buries it in the ground remarkably visualizes the despair of a 9-year-old girl being isolated from the world. However, Jin-hee's emotions are never fully externalized and controlled by this brilliant director's intuition and natural instinct at a certain level. And the result is superb.

 

 

By HAN Sunhee

Having won a 21-million dollar lottery, KIM Jung-ho, an aging president who is about to resign, agonizes over whether to stay true to his words about donating the money should he win the jackpot. CHA Ji-wook, who succeeds KIM, is a widower with a son. He has feelings for Yi-yun, former president KIM's daughter, whom CHA has been in love for a longtime, but he does not know how to show her his feelings. HAN Kyung-ja, the first elected Korean woman president, stays in a state of tension to stay in power as the president, but she gets involved in a real estate scandal due to her husband. Good Morning, President, the opening film of this year's Pusan International Film Festival, is a project JANG Jin has been preparing for a while. Stories of KIM Jung-ho, CHA Ji-wook were already written some time ago, while HAN's story was added before the production began. While JANG unfolds three stories chronologically in an omnibus structure, he also interweaves all the stories in a larger frame. In doing so, he focuses on personal lives and inner conflicts of 3 presidents, who stands on top of the nation's power system. Scenes from the kitchen of the Blue House(Presidential residence) interconnect each episode. JANG always shows his talent in telling a story of irony coming from gaps between internal desires of human beings and external restrictions of a society, as seen from his previous works such as Guns and Talks, The Spy and Someone Special. Again, Good Morning, President shows his interest in human irony, from an easily approachable format for the wide audience members. Taking a friendly look at the presidents and imagining that they also have problems in life just like ours, the film asks a question in return on how we can find happiness in our own life.

 

 

By HAN Sunhee

During his business trip to Chengdu, China, Dong-ha, a manager of construction company, encounters May, an old crush from his school days in the US, who has come back after graduation and now works as a tour guide. Their reunion keeps them feeling closer for each other, but the film reveals that each has different memories of the past. Before returning back to Korea, Dongha delays his departure for a day in order for him to express his feelings for her and another secret of May is revealed.

The film, a Korea-china co-production directed by HUR Jin-ho, is based on a motif from the first line of poetry by Du Fu from Tang dynasty. Originally meaning that a good rain knows the best time when it comes for the nature's sake, the film's title implies mystery of time that Dong-ha and May face back in the moment of love. Through a slow and distanced perspective, the film captures the nature of love: love comes around but when it is not grasped, it is cursed by passing time.

 Entirely shot in Chengdu, this feature film was originally planned to be a part of an omnibus film titled Chengdu, My Love. And the film tells one of the project's original ideas, showing the effects of the earthquake to people's lives and spirits in China's Sichuan province. This film is another piece of HUR that proves again his talent in capturing delicate world of melodrama, just as his previous films such as Christmas in August and One Fine Spring Day. It is filled with all the subtleties of human emotion. Restless mind from the encounter with a person whom you're falling for, the uncontrollable emotions from the very first physical contact, the sense of liberation from violating all the routines for the sake of love, the anxiety caused by small misunderstandings opens up a landscape of irony in human relationship from the weight of everyday life and social restraints. With gentle yet thoughtful touches to these detailed emotions, the film attains the virtue of popular melodrama at its best.

 

 

 

By SONG Soon-jin

A prison surrounded by countless iron bars and walls. Jong-ho, an experienced prison guard of 10 years welcomes a new colleague Jae-gyeong. Thrown into this brutal environment all by himself, Jaegyeong endures every day by learning from Jong-ho who easily gains control over the inmates, and the eldest senior officer KIM, who treats inmates on death row like friends. Meanwhile, hideous serial killer JANG Yong-du is sent to this prison, and those inside start to stir. 3 prisoners including JANG are ordered to be put to death, an order that has not been given in the last 12 years. As the execution date closes in, all the officers try to make excuses to avoid the duty, and it is not easy. The Executioner helmed by newly rising director CHOI Jinho looks straight into the issue of the death penalty. For the last decade, execution had not been implemented in Korea, but as serial murders broke out one after another lately the topic became highly controversial. The director says he started this film when he “read an article on prison officers who have a hard time getting over the shock they get after they carry out the execution.” Most of the film was shot at Yeoju Correctional Institution and Hwaseong Vocational Training Correctional Institution right before its opening, intending to unveil the life of the prison officers and inmates in a most intimate way. It stars CHO Jae-hyun known for his performance in director KIM Ki-duk's early works Crocodile and Bad Guy and former idol turned actor YOON Kye-sang, as well as experienced actors like PARK In-hwan, KIM Jae-geon and CHO Seong-ha.

 

 By SONG Soon-jin

Claiming to be a Sci-Fi love affair of passion, How to Live on Earth is the third feature film by director AHN Seulki, who won the Grand Prix of Public award for ‘New Asian Cinema Section' at the Lyon Asian Film Festival with Five is Too Many. Both a film director and a high school teacher, AHN Seul-ki has made films on the theme of despair and hope of lost youths. For the first time, with this movie she tries settling into the production system through Indiestory, an independent film production/ distributor. The story starts out with bored alien Yeon-u. Enduring day by day trying to be careful around his Earthling wife Hye-lin with whom all communication has been cut off, the only thing Yeon-u's does is scribble some poems. His friends from the literary circle are his only social activity and are just as dull. But when he finds out he can communicate mentally with Se-a, who he met by chance at the circle, Yeon-u's zest for life is restored. Meanwhile, a secret government agent under cover as a common public official, Hye-lin receives her first assignation order from her boss. While chasing after the target, she discovers it is her husband's lover Se-a whom she has to kill. While Hye-lin is confused, her boss and lover, director Han, demands that she pull the trigger, and when the four of them get together in one place they are inevitably thrown into a battle. Recipient of Committee Special Award, 2008 Seoul Independent Film Festival.

 

 

 By SONG Soon-jin

The feature debut by director KANG Mi-ja is a film set in the gap between the ideal and the hard reality of ethnic Koreans living in China's Yanbian area. Swearing they will “always live pure”, innocent young teenager Sugi and Cheori are close classmates who encourage and console each other. One day Cheori's mother declares to her husband she will go to South Korea to make money and leaves home. Since then Cheori's life too shows delicate yet fatal changes. Worried about his wife, the father becomes feebler and the mother who went to Korea lives by doing hard labor in a tough environment, feeling her life is under threat. With the money his mother sent him, Cheori buys the motorcycle he wanted but starts to skip school and gets caught in the neon nightlife. Looking at him, Sugi tries to bring him back to his old self, but the effort is in vain. The scene of the teacher and students gathered in the same class, and the friendship and love of a young family dismantled by money. Describing the lights and shadows of Yanbian people, Let the Blue River Run is based on the novel written by actual high school teachers of the area, shot mainly at Hunchun, China. Except for KIM Ye-ri, who also starred in Paju, in the role of Sugi, most of the cast was played by actors from the Art College of Yanbian University, delivering a realistic atmosphere with the vivid Yanbian dialect. It was recipient of Korean Film Council HD Film Production Support Program.

 

 Fly, Penguin
Directed by YIM Soon-rye
Cast MOON So-ri, PARK Wonsang, SON Byung-ho, JEONG Hye-seon, PARK In-hwan, CHOI Kyu-hwan
Release Date September 24, 2009

 

  By KIM Su-yeon

Fly, Penguin is the first feature film planned and produced by National Human Rights Commission of Korea. Although it's directed by one director, the feature is comprised of four episodes. However, the stories are linked in structurally, for example main character of one episode appears as the supporting role in the consecutive episodes and the flow of the story changes naturally. In the first episode the conflict between mother and child arises because of mother's heightened enthusiasm for the child's English education, although the child dreams of becoming a firefighter. The second story picks on the twisted culture of a company dinner. The third episode is about Mr. KWON of that company, a lonely father separated from his family who went overseas for children's education. The last story focuses on the subject of late divorce, told through the problem of lack of communication between Madame SONG, mother of Mr. KWON and her husband who does not appreciate her enough. The film's director LIM Soonrye has shown her talent in portraying humanistic moments in everyday life with Three Friends, Waikiki Brothers, and Forever the Moment. Title of the film comes from the term ‘Penguin Father' used in the film, used to describe financially incompetent fathers. The title shows hope in the lives of common people who fight hard to survive their tough lives, projected through penguins which aren't able to By KIM Su-yeon fly no matter how hard they try.

 

 

  By KIM Su-yeon

An old woman depend on each other to live while running a beatdown motel at a closed down mining village somewhere in Gangwon-do. The two who look like mother and daughter make a living by killing and his family who went overseas for children's education. The last story focuses on the subject of late divorce, told through the problem of lack of communication between Madame SONG, mother of Mr. KWON and her husband who does not appreciate her enough. The film's director LIM Soonrye has shown her talent in portraying humanistic moments in everyday life with Three Friends, Waikiki Brothers, and Forever the Moment. Title of the film comes from the term ‘Penguin Father' used in the film, used to describe financially incompetent fathers. The title shows hope in the lives of common people who fight hard to survive their tough lives, projected through penguins which aren't able to By KIM Su-yeon fly no matter how hard they try.

 

 

By KIM Su-yeon

An old woman and a young woman depend on each other to live while running a beatdown motel at a closed down mining village somewhere in Gangwon-do. The two who look like mother and daughter make a living by killing and robbing the customers who visit the motel. One day a young man, who is not quite fluent in Korean, stays a night. He's an Australian adoptee who came back in search of his birth mother. He strangely feels innately close to these two women at the motel. Around the same time, a pregnant teenage girl So-yeon escapes from the hospital while getting an abortion. Without any plans, she stays at a small one-room lodging in Daegu and gives birth there. Blind River is a feature debut of director AN Seongyeong, who takes its motive from Albert CAMUS's play The Misunderstanding. This film, which shows two sides of motherhood that both creates and refuses life, was invited to competition section of this year's Zurich Film Festival. Various sides of the ‘mother' in the film were each remembered as noteworthy characters thanks to the passionate performances by two principal actresses. Legendary actress LEE Hwa-si, who was known as director KIM Ki-young's persona in the 1970s, stars as the old woman, and the talented actress PARK Ji-a from KIM Ki-duk's Breath plays the young woman.

 

 

By SONG Soon-jin

Ho-jeong is all alone in this world, but she stubbornly holds on to her love for Won- Hello, My Love Directed by KIM Aaron Cast JO An, MIN Seok, RYU Sang-uk Release Date October 8, 2009 jae who left for France to study cooking. To Ho-jeong, he is her only hope and family. With her straightforward way of talking, she is ever so popular hosting a radio show. Adding to that, when her long-awaited love returns home there is nothing more she wants in this world. However, there is one thing that gets on her nerves. It's Dong-hwa, a business colleague and school buddy whom Won-jae returns home with from France. Just when Ho-jeong starts to feel neglected by Won-jae, she is even more shocked when by accident she sees Dong-hwa and Won-jae making love. Still, Ho-jeong cannot let go of her love of 10 years, and asks Wonjae to give her the same chance as Dong-hwa. With his short film Greenhouse and feature debut La La Sunshine, director KIM Aaron was largely noted in overseas film festivals. Hello My Love is his first actual commercial film. While there had been an increase in the number of Korean films on homosexuality since 2006's No Regret by director LEESONG Heeil, this film unravels the story of a love triangle jumping back and forth between the world of gay and straight using the tool of romantic comedy. With a classic backdrop shot in Seoul's Insadong and Jeonju Hanok Village, JO An from Lifting King Kong, new face MIN Seok and RYU Sang-uk all present passionate performances.

 

 

 By KIM Su-yeon

This is the theatrical version of Tears in the Arctic, a TV documentary series that achieved record high viewing rate of 11.4% in Korea when it was broadcasted in 2008. It was a special documentary made to celebrate ‘The International Polar Year', recording the arctic ecosystem and environment for the first time in Korea. The vast landscape of North Pole, the story of animals on the verge of extinction due to global warming, and the Innuits who hunt these animals, were praised by many. The documentary proved its success both commercially and artistically when it received an award from 36th Korea Broadcasting Prizes. It was sold to various European national TV networks, demonstrating to the world how good Korean documentaries can be. The theater version is edited in a significant way, composed into four season format, showing the harsh reality of North Pole, and enhanced it with orchestral score. In doing so the film delivers another level of sensation different from that of the TV version. But staying true to the original version, popular Korean actor AHN Sung-ki narrates this version as well. $1.7 million was invested into the film, an exceptional amount for a local documentary, and by using all types of high tech utilities and 300 days on location, the doc captures a series of spectacular images. Majestic sceneries and lives fighting for survival are spread on the screen, moving the hearts of viewers.

 

 

By KIM Su-yeon

The three lonely urban men in their 30s, Hyeon-u, Min-seok, Jin-hyeok are old time friends. These men who already have money and fame have different ways of tending their loneliness. Photographer Hyeon-u consoles his yearning for the lover who left him with marijuana, while finance specialist Jinhyeok secretly meets Su-yeon, his first love who is the wife of Min-seok while Minseok, a plastic surgeon, has meaningless sex with countless women. However, Min-seok finds out about Jin-hyeok and Su-yeon's affair and the three friends become involved in an irreversible event. The film shows interesting shift of genres: a thriller turns into fantasy spiced with slasher horror, then a melodrama that suddenly turns into science fiction, then again drama with action. Another side that's as interesting as the dramatic genre shift is the emotional expression of the characters that's created by CG. Overly dream-like and at times cynical, the scenes about their internal torments are commented as ‘bold and fresh'. The team invested 6 months just for CG in order to set up the style of the narrative. With this feature debut, director JEONG Seung-gu who also wrote the script, received many invitations from various overseas film festivals including Warsaw, Stockholm, Sao Paolo, and Leeds.

 

 

 By LEE Hyong-suk

A legendary financial manager handling 50 billion won, suddenly disappears just before his wedding day. On arguing with his fiancé, JUNG Seungphil leaves his car to buy a cigarette and hasn't come back then. A detective takes the case for his career and the press takes up the case as a mystery of the year. While the tumultuous situation, his colleagues use the chance to snatch JUNG's clients and the press discovers the fact that his fiancé enrolled a life insurance in the name of JUNG just before his missing. But, as JUNG comes back, the ridiculous reason behind his missing is revealed. Where is Jung Seung- Phil? is a tumultuous comedy film created by a simple misunderstanding. While JUNG is being trapped in a place by accident, a detective, a reporter, his colleagues and his fiancé merely conjecture his missing and gradually come to disclose their selfishness and private desires as the case goes. LEE Beom-soo, as a leading role, sweeps the film with his comic acting and KIM Min-sun in Portrait of a Beauty appears as JUNG's fiancé. The director of the film, KANG Suk-bum, has shown his commercial sense previously in an action melodrama Sunflower and a comedy film, Mr. Handy.

 

 

  By LEE Hyong-suk

City of Fathers is an actionmelodrama based on the city of Busan and about three men's struggling who live a bottom life. The Korean title of this film, Busan, is the city of Pusan International Film festival and also implies “city of fathers” as the English title intends. Kang-soo(GO Chang-seok) is a middle age man and still into gambling despite of being harassed with a loan shark. He has a son, Jong-chul(YOO Seung-ho), but continues on living a wretched life without hope and happiness. One day, as Kang-soo finds out that Jong-chul is dying of a kidney problem and a kidney transplant surgery is the only solution, he finally decides to come and meet Jong-chul's biological father. In fact, Tae-seok is a boss of mafia and has struggled to survive in the wild gangster world, not knowing the existence of his son. Now, as a father goes against the wild world for his stepson and another father dose the same for his biological son, three men start their desperate fights toward the world to survive in the backstreets of the city. KIM Young-ho, starring as Tae-seok who appeared on Night and Day and Portrait of a Beauty, delivers his charismatic acting and GO Chang-seok portrays well a person living as despaired man. Above all, YOO Seung-ho, starring Jong-chul, appeared on The Way Home and currently makes vast waves in Korea and becoming a superstar.

 

 

By LEE Hyong-suk

Kiss Me Kill Me is a comedy film about a romance between a merciless killer and a young woman who keeps trying to suicide due to a heartbroken love. Hyun-jun is a professional killer who has done his jobs perfectly when asked. One day, he gets an offer to kill a man and attacks the designated place, but what awaits him is a young woman, Jin-young. She recently has been dumped by her long lover and has failed to suicide several times, so eventually hires a killer to kill herself. Being disappointed as a professional killer, Hyunjun lets her go and comes back home. However, since then, he can't concentrate on his work because of her and keeps encountering her on streets. After making several mistakes in his tasks, he comes to get a final opportunity as a killer career and conflict between love towards Jin-young and the final opportunity, the last murder. Having delivered skillful comedy acting in previous films, Guns and Talk and Marrying the Mafia series, SHIN Hyun-jun continues to deliver his signature, comedy performance, well and KANG Hye-jung, starring in Old Boy and On the Way Home, reveals her extraordinary and spunky charms in the film.

 

 

 By LEE Hyong-suk

A town Chungdahm-dong in Seoul is “Manhattan of Korea” full of expensive fashion brand shops. As a famous female fortune-teller in the town, Tae-rang lives a luxurious life with wealth and beautiful appearance as well. With an expensive sport car and a mansion, she has one problem, that she has to meet the man pre-arranged by her god in order to live. One day, she encounters a man named Seung-won, in a car accident and finds out that he is the one. But, Seung-won is a loser living a miserable life without a job and future. Can she change the man into a winner? Meanwhile, as her first love comes back in her life they fall into the triangle relationship. Blending the story of Cinderella with the fortunetelling culture in Korea, PARK Ye-jin, who made her screen debut in Memento Mori and recently gaining huge popularity via a TV reality show, takes the leading role and IM Chang-jung, a gifted comic actor, proves his talent in comic acting once again.

 

 By PARK Hae-eun

A fatalistic woman lives in this violent world. She dreamt of becoming a cellist as a child, but she became a mute after an accident and now lives by organizing music notes in a shabby house with her aged father, suffering from dementia. When her father was young, his violent temper ruined the Her attitude toward her father contains full of contempt and surrender. Although he is sick, he is still aggressive and sometimes sexually molests Sung-jae. Still she stands by her father's side because of the brittle hope of her brother coming back home someday. Living like a prisoner, she starts dreaming of escaping from her fossilized life when she happens to witness a fugitive. Based on the novel by OH Jung-hee, Today and the Other Days portrays how the patriarchal violence destroys a fragile spirit of a woman and the director CHOI discloses her repressed inner-side by crossing over between Sungjae's fantasy represented by a fugitive and this violent reality. HA's performance, playing Sung-jae, is memorable and this film won Special Award at 2009 Yubari Fantastic Film Festival.

 

 

By PARK Hae-eun 

Every baseball team has its 10th player, their fans. A sport documentary, Flying Giants is about a Korean pro-baseball team, Lotte Giants, which has the most fanatical fans in the league. Although Lotte Giants is one of the oldest teams with 30-year history, they haven't played in the playoffs since 2000 so that the fans nicknamed the team “Ggoltte”, a play on ‘Lotte' and ‘last place'. However, Lotte Giants have bounced back in the 2008 season from the bottom and emerged as a strong candidate for the championship and the fans' expectation and supports have reached an unprecedented peak. Flying Giants catches the moment of the inside dugout and the fever of the fans during this period. From the grief of an ace pitcher who can't help the team win and the joyful tears of a player, who played in the minor league for a long time, when he comes up to the majors, to the reactions of coaches and staffs in anger when a player gets injured by a bean ball. This documentary successfully portrays a number of lively moments that occurred in and out of the stadium. Above all, the most appealing point of the documentary is the energy of the fans. The scenes, putting an orange plastic back on their heads, waving brushes made of newspapers and chanting a cheer together, are thrilling moments as much as the baseball games.

 

 

 

By JANG Byung-won

The story of A Camel Doesn't Leave Desert, portraying a twisted life of a local scamp, must be familiar to the audience. In the same category there are a number of good reference films such as The Rules of the Game, Failan, Cruel Winter Blues and Breathless. The main character, JU, returns to his hometown after his release from prison. Welcomed like an uninvited guest, JU takes the inheritance his mother left behind and invests it in a local re-development plan.

He then marries a widow and his life seems to be settling down but his luck doesn't last very long. Often getting in troubles due to his high temper, his life is about to be torn apart with vicious rumors surrounding his wife and the fact that the re-development plan blows up in his face. What makes this film so special is the dazzling performance of KIM Nak-hyung as JU and his portrayal of a surplus existence who always confronts the reality is superb. As a remarkable stage director, author, actor and the president of Joog Joog Theater Company, KIM has won several awards including Best Play of the Year at 2008 Korean Theater Awards with Macbeth and has directed Equus, A Dandelion Becomes Wind and other major plays. This film was screened at Indie Forum 2008 as the closing film and was also introduced at the Seoul Independent Film Festival in the same year.

 

 

By JANG Byung-won

 Maybe is a healing story of a man and a woman through an unexpected encounter. As a work of a promising director, JU Jihong, who graduated from FEMIS in France, this film delivers unusual sides of JANG Hyuk and SUNG Yuri, who are popular stars in Korean entertainment world. As the director notes on the film, “when I was in France, I saw adopted people asking themselves about their identities and led me to conceive a story of pain and healing by employing their stories.” May, an adoptee to a New Yorker family, returns to Korea to find her biological mother and encounters Eun-seol, a taxi driver suffering from heart disease, at the airport. Getting to know each other over a short period of time, they gradually come to face their old wounds. When the president of FEMIS visited Korea a few years ago, he mentioned JU as “one of the most promising film students at FEMIS.” JU made his feature film debut in France with Toothache and made the first feature film debut in Korea with this film. JANG and SUNG worked on the film without any payment, and former idol star SUNG is making her screen debut with this film, potentially kick-starting her acting career.

 

 

 By CHO Sung-jun

Haneul is an adult with stunted intelligence of a 6-year old, but she has splendid memory. She still remembers even the littlest things that happened years ago and can also play any melodies by hearing them just once. Living alone after losing her parents in a car accident, she encounters Bada living next door and becomes close to her. Bada, whose dream is to become a singer, also has troubles with her stepmother and then decides to live with Haneul. A mischievous pizza delivery man, Jin-gu, comes to Haneul's house to make a delivery, where he is lured by a wad of money in the house. But realizing Haneul's innocence, they all become friends. By staying together and relying on each other, they enjoy a brief moment of happiness. However, their eventual separation is just around the corner. CHANG Na-ra, a popular Korean star in China, comes back on screen with this film after 6 years of absence and her cute, pure image and her signature playful acting, are well blended in the film.

 

 

 By JANG Sung-ran

After a car accident, KANG suffers a short-term vision disorder. He sees ugly woman as a beautiful one. KANG thinks he has met the most beautiful woman in his life, but in reality she is a repulsive girl with freckles and buckteeth. The Relation of Face, Mind and Love is the first work of Telecinema 7 Project which targets film and TV markets simultaneously. A well-known Japanese writer, Sizuka OISHI of Two Kids(NHK, 1996) and First Love(TBS, 2002), wrote the script and a famous Korean TV drama producer LEE Jangsoo of Stairway to Heaven(SBS, 2003) directed this film. Such collaboration showcases many advantages that respective countries have to offer to each other. In other Telecinema 7 projects, they have produced 19-Nineteen, Postman to Heaven, Triangle, Paradise, After the Banquet, and A Dream Comes True; totaling 7 films together. Starting with the release of The Relation of Face, Mind and Love, these films will be distributed in Korean theaters consecutively and then air in Japan via Asahi TV drama channel.

 

Visitors
Directed by HONG Sangsoo, Naomi KAWASE, Lav DIAZ
Cast JUNG Yu-mi, Kazuki KITAMURA, Yuko NAKAMURA
Release Date November 12, 2009

By KIM Sukyun

The 2009 ‘Jeonju Digital Project', is an omnibus feature wherein three directors are selected by Jeonju International Film Festival each year, and receive aid for production costs and full support for their creativity. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Film Festival, HONG Sangsoo from Korea, Naomi KAWASE of Japan and Phillipines' Lav DIAZ participated this year.

Koma directed by KAWASE is about a third generation Korean living in Japan who visits a town called Koma to deliver his grandfather's will. The camera sensitively picks up the feelings exchanged between the man and the young daughter of the house he visits. HONG Sangsoo's episode, Lost in the Mountains, is a comedy about a young woman aiming to be writer some day, and the commotion that occurs when she gets together with her former lover/teacher, his girlfriend/ old acquaintance, and current boyfriend. Butterflies Have No Memories by Lav DIAZ is a story of people living on an island that plan to kidnap a Filipino- Canadian woman visiting her hometown. While Naomi KAWASE captures the theme of a historical, traditional sense of bonding, HONG Sangsoo as he has always done makes an acute satire out of microscopic power games between the genders. Lav DIAZ reveals how the poor developing countries are being environmentally and economically exploited once and again through ‘development' by the Western world.