60th Cannes Film Festival Nnews

Korean Cinema: Good News!!!

"Secret Sunshine" by Lee Chang-dong and "Breath" by Kim Ki-duk were invited to the 60th Cannes Film Festival, to be screened in competition.

Other asian films in competition are:

Director Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights will open the Festival.

The film, the director's first in English, stars Jude Law, Natalie Portman and jazz musician Norah Jones;
The japanese Mogari No Mori, from director Naomi Kawase;

Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung will be part of the official jury.

The 26th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards

The great winner of the night was "After This Our Exile" Fu zi, with:
Best Picture Award (ExecutiveProducer Chiu Li Kuang);
Best Director Patrick Tam Ka Ming*;
Best Screenplay to Tam Ka Ming and Tian Koi Leong;
Best Supporting Actor plus Best Newcomer to the young actor Gouw Ian Iskandar
www.focusfilms.cc/film/afterthisourexile.htm

* Director, writer, editor and art director, Patrick Tam Ka-Ming has a brilliant movie career, specially as editor, in films like Election (2005), Ashes of Time (1994) and Days of Being Wild (1990). My Heart is that Eternal Rose (1989), was his last work before the awarded After This Our Exile.

"Curse of the Golden Flower"
Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia awards:
Best Actress: Gong Li**
Art Direction: Huo Tingxiao; Costume Make Up Design: Yee Chung Man;Original Film Song: “Ju Hua Tai” (Composer: Jay Chou; Lyrics: Vincent Fang Wen Shan; Sung by Jay Chou)
site: www.sonyclassics.com/curseofthegoldenflower/

**Gong Li was born in the northern city of Shenyang in China (12/31/65) and in 1985 entered The Central Academy of Drama's acting department. Even before her graduation in 1989, she was chosen to be the lead actress in the film Red Sorghum in 1988. This was the beginning of both her film and personal relationship with director Zhang Yimou that was to last for seven years. Together they made six films that are all considered classics - after Red Sorghum there was Ju Dou (1989), Raise the Red Lantern (1991), The Story of Qiu Ju (1992), To Live (1994) and Shanghai Triad (1995). These films along with three that she made for director Chen Kaige - Farewell My Concubine (1993), Temptress Moon (1996) and The Emperor and the Assassin (1999) - have made her the most famous Chinese actress in the world. Her debut in Hollywood was in Michael Mann´s Miami Vice.

The Pang Brothers picture “Re-Cycle” won 2 awards:
Sound Design: Nakom Kositpaisal (“Re-Cycle”)
Visual Effects: Ng Yuen Fai, Chas Chau Chi Shing, Emil Yee Kwok Leung,
Alex Lim Hung Fung ("Re-Cycle” Gwai wik)
info: http://www.cinemovies.fr/fiche_film.php?IDfilm=5197
Official site: http://www.re-cyclethemovie.com/
teahousecinema review: Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Other Awards:
Best Actor: Sean Lau Ching Wan*** (My Name is Fame - Ngor yiu sing ming)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0843287/combined
Best Supporting Actress: Zhou Xun (The Banquet - Ye yan)
http://ent.sina.com.cn/yeyan.html

***Born in Hong Kong in 1969, Lau Ching-Wan got his start, like many Hong Kong actors in the TVB (Shaw Bros. television studio) training school. Lau has proven himself one of Hong Kong's most versatile actors, appearing in almost every genre of film, from action (Big Bullet) to comedy (Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb) to drama (Too Many Ways to Be Number One) and has become one of the region's most popular actors. His recent work with Milkyway Productions (such as Johnnie To's A Hero Never Dies) has garnered him international attention and helped to revitalize the crime movie genre.









www.confessionofpain.com/
Film Editing: Eric Kong Chi Leung (A Battle Of Wits - Muk gong)
www.abattleofwits.com.hk/
Action Choreography: Yuen Wo Ping (Fearless - Huo Yuan Jia)
Info: http://www.jetlisfearless.com
Original Film Score: Peter Kam Pui Tat (Isabella)
Best Asian Film: Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles - Qian li zou dan qi (China).
www.sonypictures.net/movies/ridingalone/
Best New Director: Daniel Wu (The Heavenly Kings - Sei dai tinwong )

Kim Yun-jin´s "Seven Days"

Kim Yun-jin´s comeback to the Korean big screen!

South Korean actress Kim Yun-jin (TV series Lost; Swiri), will start shooting “Seven Days” in late April where she will be playing a high-powered lawyer.The new movie tells the story of a cold-blooded lawyer focused only on winning her cases regardless of the truth. But trouble begins when her daughter is kidnapped and will be killed unless she frees a criminal from death row within seven days.

Happy Easter!

Peter Chan´s The Warlords

In production: "Tou Ming Zhuang" (english title: "The Warlords")
The US$40 million budget war epic, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

The chinese director Peter Chan says that it´s not a remake, but a diferent version of from the original "Ci Ma" ("The Assassination of Ma") directed by Chang Cheh.

Song Kang-ho (korean actor)

Song Kang-ho
 

South korean actor (born January 17, 1967) beginned his acting career in social theatre groups. Joined Kee Kuk-seo's influential theatre company with its emphasis on instinctive acting and improvisation which proved Song's training ground.

First part at movies was a role as an extra in Hong Sang-soo's The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1996).In the following year, after portraying one of the homeless in Jang Sun-woo's docu-style Bad Movie, he gained cult notoriety for his show-stealing performance in Song Neung-han's No. 3 as a gangster training a group of young recruits, winning his first Best Actor award.

Had an impressive role as Han Suk-kyu's secret agent partner in Kang Jae-gyu's blockbuster thriller Shiri. In early 2000, Song became a star with his first leading role in the box office smash The Foul King, for which he reputedly did most of his own stunts. But it is with his award-winning role as a North Korean sergeant in Joint Security Area that Song came to the forefront as one of Korea's leading actors.

Song also starred in Park Chan-wook's acclaimed followup, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, which centers around a father's pursuit of his daughter's kidnappers.

In 2002 Song starred in another major production by Myung Films, YMCA Baseball Team, about Korea's first baseball team which formed in the early 20th century. The following year he played a leading role in yet another critically-acclaimed smash hit, Memories of Murder from young director Bong Joon-ho.

In 2004 Song starred in a film by debut director Im Chan-sang that imagines the life of South Korean president Park Chung-hee's personal barber, The President's Barber. In 2005, took the lead in Antarctic Journal, a big-budget project by debut director Im Phil-sung, about an expedition in Antarctica.

He lined up to star in Bong Joon-ho's politically-themed creature movie The Host (2006), as well as a film based on the famous book Song of Ariran. (http://koreanfilms.org)

Complete Filmography:

The Host (2006)

Antarctic Journal (2005)

The President's Barber (2004)

Memories of Murder (2003)

YMCA Baseball Team (2002)

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)

Joint Security Area (2000)

The Foul King (2000)

Shiri (1999)

The Quiet Family (1998)

No. 3 (1997)

Bad Movie (1997)

Green Fish (1997)

The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1996)

Best Actor Awards:

Grand Bell Award (Film: JSA, 2001);
First Asia Film Awards (The Host, 2007)

First Asia Film Awards

First Asia Film Awards Winners:The great winner of the night was the South Korean thriller The Host, with 4 awards:
Best Film, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.
Best Film : The Host “Gwoemul” (South Korea)

Best Director: Jia Zhang-Ke, for Still Life “Sanxia Haoren” (China).

Best Actor: Song Kang-ho (“The Host”).

Best Actress: Miki Nakatani, in “Memories of Matsuko” (Japan).

Best Screenwriter: Mani Haghighi, for “Men at Work” (Iran).

Best Cinematographer : Kim Hyung-goo (“The Host”).

Best Production Designer: Tim Yip, for “The Banquet” (China).

57th Berlinale

57th Berlinale International Film Festival (Berlin February 17, 2007)


And the Winners are:

Golden Bear (Best Film): Tuya's Marriage (“Tu ya de hun shi”).
Producer: Le Wang.
Director: Wang Quan'an.
Actors: Yu Nan, Bater, Sen'ge, Zhaya,China.

Chinese drama "Tuya's Marriage" shows the drastic social and economic impact of China's rural exodus with the story of a woman who must choose between love and her family's survival in the Mongolian steppes.

Alfred Bauer Prize (to a work which "takes the art of film in a new direction"):
I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Ok (“Sai bo gu ji man gwen chan a”) by Park Chan-wook (South Korea).

Fantasporto

Fantasporto honors the chinese cinema!

Hong Kong actress Isabella Leong was crowned Best Actress in the Director's Week section at the Oporto International Film Festival (Fantasporto), the biggest film festival of Portugal, for her performance in the film “Isabella”.
The film, by Hong Kong director Pang Ho-Cheung, also received the Best Film award in the Orient Express section.

And chinese mainland director Chen Kaige's "The Promise" took home the Special Jury Prize in the section.

Hong Kong Film Awards (2007)

Nominations to the Hong Kong Film Awards (April 15, 2007)

Best Picture:

After This Our Exile
Curse of the Golden Flower

Election 2

Exiled

Fearless

Best Director:

Patrick Tam Ka Ming (After This Our Exile);
Jacob Cheung Chi Leung (Battle of Wits);
Johnnie To Kei Fung (Election 2);
Johnnie To Kei Fung (Exiled);
Zhang Yimou (Curse of the Golden Flower).

Best Screenplay:
Patrick Tam Ka-Ming, Tian Kai-Leong (After This Our Exile);
Alan Mak Siu-Fai, Felix Chong Man-Keung (Confession of Pain);
Yau Nai-Hoi, Yip Tin-Shing (Election 2);
Sylvia Chang, Mathias Woo, Theresa Tang (Happy Birthday);
James Yuen Sai-Sang, Jessica Fong, Lo Yiu-Fai (My Name is Fame).

Best Actor:
Aaron Kwok Fu Sing (After This Our Exile);
Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Confession of Pain);
Chow Yun Fat (Curse of the Golden Flower);
Jet Li (Fearless);
Lau Ching Wan (My Name is Fame).

Best Actress: Gong Li (Curse of the Golden Flower);
Rene Liu (Happy Birthday);
Isabella Leong (Isabella);
Teresa Mo Shun Kwan (Men Suddenly in Black 2);
Angelica Lee Sum Kit (Re-cycle).

Best Supporting Actor:
Gouw Ian Iskandar (After This Our Exile);
Jay Chou (Curse of the Golden Flower);
Liu Ye (Curse of the Golden Flower);
Nick Cheung Ka-Fai (Election 2);
Simon Yam Tat-Wah (Election 2).

Best Supporting Actress:
Kelly Lin (After This Our Exile);
Zhou Xun (The Banquet);
Isabella Leong (Diary);
Crystal Tin Yui Lei (My Mother is a Belly Dancer);
Candy Yu On On (My Name is Fame).

Best Newcomer:
Gouw Ian Iskandar (After This Our Exile);
Pei Pei (Dog Bite Dog);
Betty Sun Li (Fearless);
Huo Siyan (My Name is Fame);
Matthew Medvedev (baby in Rob-B-Hood).

Get some beautiful wallpapers from Korea at:
http://www.kois.go.kr/kois/eng_bk_list.asp

27th Blue Dragon Awards

27th Blue Dragon Film Awards Winners are...
The Best of the Best

Picture: The Host.

Screenplay: Lee Hae-yeong and Lee Hae-joon, for Like A Virgin.

Cinematography: The War of Flowers.

Art Direction: Forbidden Quest.

Actor: Park Joong-hoon and Ahn Seong-gi, for Radio Star.

Supporting Actor: Byeon Hee-bong, in The Host.

Actress: Kim Hye-soo, in The War of Flowers.

Supporting Actress: Jeong Yoo-mi, in Family Ties.

New Actress: Ko Ah-seong, in The Host.

Music: Lee Byeong-woo, for The King and the Clown.

New Director: Lee Hae-yeong and Lee Hae-joon, for Like A Virgin.

New Actor: Ryoo Deok-hwan.

Director: Kim Tae-yong, for Family Ties.

THC Best Films of the Year

My Best 5 Movies of the Year

1.The Prestige (USA, 128 min)
director: Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento)
with Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, David Bowie
info: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22872-2441195.html

2.Re-cycle / Gwai wik (HK)
director: Pang Brothers
with Angelica, Lawrence Chou, Lau Siu-ming
info:http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/recycle.htm

3.Caché (FR, 2005, 118 min.)
director: Michael Haneke (best director Cannes 2005)
with Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil, Maurice Bénichou
info: http://www.cinemovies.fr/fiche_film.php?IDfilm=5197

4.Volver (SPAIN, 121 min.)
director: Pedro Almodóvar
with: Carmen Maura, Penélope Cruz
info: http://www.sonyclassics.com/volver/main.html

5.The Lake House (USA, 105 min.)
director: Alejandro Agresti
with: Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves
info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410297/

Happy Xmas!

May your holidays
be filled with laughter,
fun, and the company
of good friends!

Happy 2007,
to all bloggers!

Champion:
Sport Club Internacional (Porto Alegre)
Brazilian teams have won all Championships with Sport Club Internacional the latest winner 1-0 over UEFA Champions Barcelona.
Congratulations to the "colorados" all around the world!

57th Berlin International Film Fest

The Korean film Like a Virgin (about a chubby high school boy who decides to compete in traditional Korean wrestling to earn money for a transgender operation) directed by Lee Hae-young was officially invited to the Generation Section of the 57th Berlin International Film Festival (open on February 8th of next year).









Other Korean movies in competition will be: director Lee Yoon-ki’s Ad Lib Night for the Young Forum section and Hong Sang-soo’s Woman on the Beach and Lee Jae-yong’s Dasepo Naughty Girl for the Panorama section.

Golden Globe Awards 2007

Golden Globe Awards

Babel's Rinko Kikuchi received the nomination for Best Actress In A Supporting Role.

Ensemble drama Babel (spanning several countries telling four inter-related stories) leads the nominations at next year's Golden Globe Awards, boasting seven nods including Best Dramatic Picture.

30th Cairo International Film Festival

Zhang Jingchu's Star

Chinese director Zhang Jiarui’s film The Road, which stars Chinese actor Fan Wei and rising actress Zhang Jingchu, scooped the 30th Cairo International Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Pyramid.

And Zhang Jingchu (Tsui Hark's Seven Swords) also garnered the Best Actress award. Zhang won the Best Actress award for her role in Peacock (director Gu Changwei’s film) at the sixth Chinese Film Media Awards in Hong Kong, April 17, 2006.

THC Message

The Beautiful Country

The Beautiful Country (DVD/ USA,Norway/ 2004, 128 min.)
Director: Hans Petter Moland (Aberdeen)
Production: Terrence Malick (Thin Red Line)
Actors: Damien Nguyen, Bai Ling (Anna and the King, Taxi 3), Nick Nolte (Hulk, Hotel Rwanda),Tim Roth (Don't Come Knocking, Planet of the Apes).

In his first lead role, Nguyen plays Binh, a social outcast in Vietnam, called ugly and "bui doi" (less than dust) because of his mixed race. He makes a dramatic journey from Vietnam to USA, trying to find his american war veteran father (Nolte).

The Norwegian director Moland, about the Binh character “He’s one of the finest human beings, but you would’t pick him out of a crowd. He ultimately succeeds in keeping his goodness; he is not corrupted or hardened. It is a celebration of what human beings are capable of and what is grand about us. So it’s not about an immigrant, but about humanity.”

Damien Nguyen, the great surprise of the movie --- it’s amazing too see such a strong performance, considering that this is the first lead role for Nguyen. The actor was born in Viet Nam, but his family emmigrated to America when he was 3 years old. Living in Orange County, dropped out of college to pursue the acting career in Los Angeles.
Nguyen Says “... being second-generation Vietnamese American has always been an interesting experience. When I was growing up, I always felt trapped by the Old World customs and traditions. Trying to find my identity in this new world was hard when I felt labeled a certain way because of how I looked, talked, and dressed. Then when I became older, I began to wonder why I never took the time to really understand all those things, like my family and my ancestors, the things that made me who I really am. However, as an actor, I really am given a chance to search, to some degree, for who I really am. I realized it is possible for me to find the characters that I portray within myself.”

Learn more about Damien Nguyen in:http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=26462
http://www.moviehabit.com/essays/moland_nguyen.shtml
http://movies.about.com/od/thebeautifulcountry/a/beautiful070605.htm
http://www.nhamagazine.com/back_issue/issue_0106/feature1_p1.html