New Yorkers are again indulging in a series of Korean films at the 3rd Free Movie Night Series held by the Korean Cultural Service. Rather than a highbrow selection of screenings similar to a film festival, the series is designed to showcase a broad range of Korean films. That said, the third series named ‘The Hidden Gems of Indie Cinema’, is focusing on the kinds of films that tend not to make it to the packed houses of multiplexes. In addition, out of the four films being shown the series is bringing to New York two North American premieres.

 

The first of the two premieres is Re-Encounter (2009) a film that deals with the still very significant taboo of teenage and unwanted pregnancies in South Korea. Hye-wha works as a veternarian’s assistant – it has been 5 years since she was together with Han-soo. Suddenly, he shows up with the news that the child they had together, which she thought had died, had actually been adopted. Given that he had disappeared soon after the baby was born and with a still very fresh emotional wound, Hye-wha finds the news hard to deal with.

 

The next premiere is LEE Seo’s Missing Person (2009). The Jeonju best winner carries on a dark tradition in Korean cinema shining a light in the murkier depths of Korean society. Won-young, a real estate agent by day and sexual miscreant at night preys on those less able to defend themselves. Eventually, as a number of missing person cases comes to the fore, darkness, fear and hatred permeate the entire city. This debut work by director LEE also won the Artistic Achievement Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece.

 

The series is also showing Vegetarian (2009) by LIM Woo-seong which played at Sundance, Moscow and the Slamdance and Vilnius film festivals. The film tells the tale of a woman who, in a barbecued meat obsessed society becomes obsessed by hating meat and the film details her family’s response. Café Noir (2008) has also had its fair share of festival showings including Copenhagen, Munich, Hong Kong, Rotterdam and Venice . Directed by film critic turned director JUNG Sung-Il this ambitious film referencing almost every other film ever made, came under international criticism itself, both good and bad.

 

The Free Movie Nights will continue until June the 21st playing at New York’s Tribeca Cinema.