“Santa U Are The One” MV

Após lançar o álbum colaborativo de inverno da gravadora SMTOWN, Super Junior chega com esse novo MV especial de Natal “Santa U Are The One”.

“Santa U Are The One” é a faixa título do álbum “2011 SMTOWN Winter ‘The Warmest Gift”, cantado pelos 13 integrantes do grupo Super Junior. O MV ainda conta com a presença de Henry e Zhou Mi, do Super Junior M, todos cantando em inglês.

Para ir entrando no clima natalino, veja o MV muito fofo dos garotos

(eu queria ter uma miniatura de cada um para pendurar no pinheiro de natal!).

Scent of a Woman (novo drama)

Primeiras impressões sobre o drama Scent of a Woman (com alguns spoilers!)

Já está na rede, com legendas em inglês, a estréia do novo drama de final de semana da TV SBS.Depois de assistir os dois primeiros episódios, fiquei razoavelmente satisfeita com o resultado. Como previsto, baseado no trabalho anterior do diretor Park Hyeong-gi (Doctor Champ), o drama tem uma fotografia maravilhosa e um cuidado geral com a produção nota dez. A trilha musical não trouxe nenhuma canção de grande impacto, por enquanto (o drama Doctor Champ tinha uma trilha ótima!).



O episódio 1 transcorreu com certa lentidão, poderia ter tido um ritmo mais ágil. A apresentação dos personagens foi bem superficial. Kim Seon-ah, como a funcionária de uma mega-agência de turismo Lee Yeon Jae, é apresentada como uma mulher solitária, que apesar de viver para o trabalho, não ganha o respeito merecido do chefe ou dos colegas de trabalho, muito pelo contrário, todos a tratam muito mal. Até mesmo a mãe acha que a única chance de felicidade de Yeon Jae é casar-se com um homem rico. Yeon Jae é uma cinderela solteirona, com o clássico look "óculos gigante e cabelo ninho de passarinho". Tudo para acentuar a mudança "dramática" no segundo episódio, para uma linda mulher... Até aí nada de novo.

Kang Ji Wook (Lee Dong-wook) é o herdeiro da empresa de turismo e, além de sua apatia diante da vida em geral, pouco ou nada é relevado sobre ele. Ji Wook assume a direção da empresa do pai apenas por obrigação, aceita casar-se com a filha de um magnata, apenas por obrigação... Não fica esclarecido nos dois primeiros episódios se ele sofre de depressão ou apenas de tédio agudo. Que saudades dos "chaebol" de Secret Garden e Lie to Me... Veremos se o encontro com Yeon Jae vai animar o pobre milionário Ji Woo. 

Já a última parte do segundo episódio traz uma perspectiva de maior humor e romance para Scent of a Woman, e pelos trailers divulgados até o momento, a química entre o casal tem tudo para trazer um maior interesse à estória.

Os interesses românticos secundários...

A noiva de Kang Ji Wook é a jovem milionária Se Kyung, uma jovem mimada e ao mesmo tempo frustrada no amor. Francamente, achei o personagem incrivelmente chato. Parece que ela está ali só para infernizar a vida de Ji Woo.

Mas a maior expectativa, principalmente entre a produção, está na permanencia ou não do ator Uhm Ki Joon na série, pois o mesmo sofreu recentemente um acidente de trânsito, e se for considerado culpado (por DUI) deve ser cortado do drama. Aí fica dificíl saber o que vai acontecer, pois o seu personagem, um médico que na infância foi colega de escola de Yeon Jae, aparentemente é parte importante da trama. Uma pena, pois Uhm Ki Joon é um ótimo ator, além de ser muito charmoso.

ainda em dúvida se vai assistir o drama? uma imagem vale mais que mil palavras...

Jeong Jae-yeong no filme “Countdown”

Jeong Jae-yeong, o ator de cinema coreano predileto dessa blogueira, volta à tela grande esse ano com o filme “Countdown”.
Incansável, Jeong já havia estrelado recentemente o filme “Glove”, sobre um time de baseboll de jovens com deficiência auditiva, com roteiro baseado em fatos reais.

Countdown (Coréia do Sul, 2011)

Direção: Heo Jong -ho

Um coletor de dívidas implacável, Tae Geon-ho (Jeong Jae-yeong), está à caça de uma mulher misteriosa, Cha Ha-yeon (Jeon Do-yeon), para executar seu trabalho de sempre.

Ha-yeon é uma estelionatária que acaba de sair da prisão. Traída por um amigo, ela convence Geon-ho a ajudá-la em seu plano de vingança, em troca de muito dinheiro.

Jeon Do-yeon, para quem não lembra recebeu o prêmio de Melhor Atriz no Festival de Cinema de Cannes de 2007, pelo filme Secret Sunshine.

O último reconhecimento como ator para Jeong Jae-yeong foi no ano passado, no Blue Dragon Awards, em que ganhou o prêmio de Melhor Ator pelo excelente filme MOSS.

Os dois atores já haviam colaborado anteriormente no filme de ação "No Blood, No Tears" (2002), do diretor Ryoo Seung-wan.

Ainda não há trailer do filme Countdown, mas você pode ver os trailers e fotos do filme Glove em www.hancinema.net

Filmes Asiáticos na TV

Filmes Asiáticos - Programação da TV (abril 2009)
O Guerreiro Da Luz (Restless, Jungcheon)*(Aventura, Coreia do Sul, 2006, 105 min.)
TC Action - 11/05, 22h00

Resumo: Em uma terra governada por corruptos, rebeliões se espalham e guerreiros monstros espalham terror pelo território. Depois que sua noiva é assassinada, um jovem guerreiro se junta a um grupo de caçadores de demônios em busca de vingança e redenção.

*disponível em DVD

Breaking News - Uma Cidade Em Alerta (Breaking News, Daai Si Gin)*

(Ação, Hong Kong, 2004, 87 min.)

Direção: Johnnie To

Elenco: Kelly Chen, Nick Cheung, Richie Ren, Simon Yam
TC Action - 23/04 , 07h30

Resumo: Uma gangue consegue fazer um roubo ousado em plena luz do dia, na frente das lentes da imprensa. Com a sua imagem arranhada, a polícia de Hong Kong fará de tudo para pegar os criminosos, dar show para a mídia e recuperar o seu prestígio.
Preste atenção ao plano-sequência sem cortes do início do filme.

*disponível em DVD

Inimigos Do Império (Banquet, Ye Yan)*
(Ação, China, 2006, 131 min.)
TC Pipoca - 23/04 – 08h15

TC Pipoca - 11/05 – 05h25

Resumo: O filme se passa na China Antiga, onde a imperatriz Wan se apaixona por seu enteado o príncipe Wu Luan. Li, irmão do imperador, não aprova essa relação e ao assumir o trono Wan decide se casar com ele para proteger o enteado. Mas Li não se dá por satisfeito e resolve armar contra o rival.

Inspirado na peça “Hamlet”.

*disponível em DVD

Warai no Daigaku (filme, 2001)

University of Laughs, or Warai no Daigaku, in japanese, is a wonderful film! If you didn´t see it yet, don´t miss the opportunity of watching it on dvd. I´d love to see Hwang Jeong-min in this play! Actually I was thinking that this story could be played with sucess at any stage of the world, since most of the countries had to go through some obscure period of censorship in their history. And many artists learned that when an artist is forced to work within censorship, they can sometimes create something better than they ever could when having complete artistic freedom.



Hwang Jeong-min to Star in New Play

Korean movie actor Hwang Jeong-min will star in a new play, "University of Laughs", comedy based on the story of an artist's freedom of expression when faced with censorship, set in 1940 Japan. The play was written by Japanese dramatist Koki Mitani.

A young playwright (Hwang) comes up against a government censor (Song Yeong-chang ) to put a comedy on stage. The censor's job is to prevent anything political or taboo from getting into the pre-war media, but this particular censor has a thing against comedy, too.

The play was originally performed at Parco Theatre in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan in 1997 to high acclaim. It was also made into a film which was then released in 2004 by Toho Studios, and directed by Hoshii Mamoru.

Hwang began his acting career in theaters, as a musical actor in Subway Line No. 1 (1994), Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Nine.

"I think a movie is the art of a director but the play is the art of an actor", he said.

The play will be shown in Korea for the first time as the ninth work of the Yeongeuk Yeoljeon 2 (Best Plays Series) programmed by veteran actor Jo Jae-hyeon. The play will be staged at Dongsoong Art Center in central Seoul Oct. 24 to Nov. 30.

Hwang Jeong-min Filmography

The Waikiki Brothers (2001)

A Good Lawyer's Wife

Bloody Tie

You are my Sunshine (2005) * best actor award at the Blue Dragon Film Festival

Black House (by Shin Tae-ra, 2007)

Happiness (by Heo Jin-ho , 2007)

A Man Once a Superman (by Jeong Yoon-cheol, 2008)

Warai no Daigaku (University of Laughs/ Escola do Riso)/ Japan/ 2004/ 121 min/Comedy

Director: Mamoru Hoshi

Writer: Koki Mitani

Producer - Yumiko Shigeoka

Cast: Koji Yakusho, Goro Inagaki

Cinematographer - Hiroshi Takase

Editor - Masaki Yamamoto

Sound/Sound Designer - Yasushi Tanaka

Music Score - Yusuke Honma

Production Designer - Takeshi Shimizu

Based on 1996 play by Koki Mitani, Mamoru Hoshi's comedy Warai no Daigaku (University of Laughs) is set in 1940, during Worls War II, wen an naive playwright, Hajime Tsubaki (actor Goro Inagaki, from j-pop group SMAP), try to get his play, Romilet and Julio, past the censorship from Mutsuo Sakisaka (actor Koji Yakusho, Yudan Taiteki). A censor that proudly describes himself as “a man who has never laughed”.

Choi Min-sik is Back with "Himalaya"

Choi Min-sik is Back with Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells

“I felt like I was riding a new car just out of a warehouse, starting from zero mileage. Now my heart is full of all sorts of ambiguous emotions - I’m proud, relieved and empty, as if a passionate love is over.” Choi Min-sik made his appearance at the open talk session during the Pusan International Film Festival, last Monday, after three years of absence (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, 2005).

Choi stars in Jeon Soo-il´s “Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells”.

In the movie, Choi (the only Korean in the film) is fired from his job, and is enlisted to help his factory-owning brother to visit a village in the Himalayas, in order to deliver the remains of a Nepalese migrant worker who died in an accident in Korea, to his family.

“I was thirsty, and I was hungry,” he says. “I felt both scared and ecstatic in front of the imposing mountain range,” he recalled of the shoot. “It was an extremely difficult task, but I was happy to endure that hardship. No matter what the outcome may be, I am glad I chose this film.”

Sources: chosun.com, varietyasiaonline.com

Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells /Barami mumoonun got, Himalaya

(South Korea, 95 min., Korean, English, Nepalese dialogue)

Directed, written by Jeon Soo-il (The Bird Who Stops in the Air).
Produced by Kim Dong-joo, Jeon Soo-il, Show East, Zonbo Media, Dongnyuk Films
Cast: Choi Min-sik, Tsering Kipale Gurung, Tsering Sherpa.

Camera (color), Kim Sung-tai; editor, Kim In-soo, Noh Bong-seo; music, Kim Hyung-suk; production designer, Cho Youn-ah.

Presented at the Pusan Film Festival (Korean Panorama)

To be released in Korea next spring.

The 13th Pusan International Film Festival

The 13th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF Awards)
 

The Awards

New Currents competition section(this year shared between two films):

Land of Scarecrows (Korea) and Naked of Defenses (Japan)

Scarecrows, directed by Roh Gyung-tae, is a collection of stories of isolated people including one about a transgender woman who wants to become a man. The jury said “a very powerful film about somebody who's trying to find the sexual identify. It’s a touching film about a woman who wants to be somebody else in the modern world that influenced her with pollution around her. It´s a very truthful picture and items about the pollutions and sexuality. You can’t define the character’s own self or way out of things because strong vision to search of identify and such was a fresh for us.”

Naked of Defenses (by Ichii Masahide) portrays a female worker at a plastics factory and delves into her past memories. The jury said “is about childless woman who meets pregnant woman in the factory. It is well directed and acted with realistic and identifying characters. It´s a film that comes from a heart. It also a well narrated and realistically portrayed about two women and has an unusual style.

The Jury also made two special mentions, one for Baek Seung Bin's Members of the Funeral (South Korea) and the other was for Yang Jin's Er Dong (China).

Other Winners

Sonje Award

Girl by Hong Sunghoon (South Korea) – “While the film has a precise and subtle mise en scene., it lets the audience free flowing into the secret of human heart.”

Andong by Rommel Tolentino Milo (Philippines) – “The director has excavated a truthful story from the midst of the city dumpsite and told it with witty humor and brilliant performance.”

PIFF Mecenat Award

Old Partner by Lee Chung-ryoul (South Korea) – “This film portrays land and labor, aging and death, and friendship between human and animal through the relationship between an old farmer and a bull who have lived together for 40 years. It is the film’s purpose to obtain the meaning of existence of the daily lives in a farm village with precise camera.”

Mental by Soda Kazuhiro (Japan) – “To draw the curtain between normality and what normality calls abnormality is the purpose of this film. But more than that, the curtain is drawn upon a beautiful theater, Yamamoto’s office, where beautiful characters slowly enlarge the world with their joyful sadness.”

Fipresci Award
Jalainur by Ye Zhao (China)

NETPAC Award
Members of the Funeral by Baek Seung-bin (South Korea) – “For its excellent structure, unforgettable characters and ironical life situations – hinting at the complexity that lies beneath contemporary Korean society.”

Treeless Mountain by Kim So-young (South Korea/U.S.) – “The filmmaker perfectly captured the feelings of abandonment by parents we have all experienced one time or another, creating a heartfelt story.”

KNN Movie Award (Audience Award)
"100" by Chris Martinez (Philippines)

The complete list: http://www.piff.org/

45th Daejong Film Awards

The 45th Daejong Film Awards (Grand Bell Awards), June 2008

The Winners

Best Picture:The Chaser

Best Director: Na Hong Jin

Best Screenplay: Kim Soo Jin; Yoon In Bum

Best Actor; BMW Popularity Award: Kim Yoon Suk

Best Actress: Kim Yoon Jin (Seven Days)

Best Supporting Actor: Yoo Jun Sang (Return)

Best Supporting Actress: Kim Hye Suk (Open City)

New Actor: Daniel Henney (My Father)

New Actress; Korea.com Popularity Award: Han Ye Seul (Gold Digger, Miss Shin)

Hallyu Popularity Best Picture: Ba:bo

Boat (South Korea, Japan)

Ha Jung-woo and Tsumabuki Satoshi

BOAT, a Korea-Japan co-production

Last year best supporting actor at Daejong Film Awards, and star of the movie hit The Chaser, Tears for You) in a new movie co-production Boat.

Boat “tells a story of two men who are involved with a smuggling business in Japan.

Ha Jung-woo takes the role of a warm-hearted man who struggles to make a living, while Tsumabuki plays a Japanese man who helps him. They are confronted with an unexpected accident while kidnapping a Korean woman to Japan.

Director: Kim Young-nam (Don't Look Back)

Cast: Ha Jung-woo, Tsumabuki Satoshi

Screenplay: Watanabe Aya (Maison de Himiko)

Production: Lee Jun-ho (Korea's Kraze Pictures) and Osamu Kubota (Japan's IMJ Pictures, Michigan Venture Capital, Korean Film Council.

(source: Variety Asia Online)

My Mighty Princess (South Korea)

My Mighty Princess

The director Kwak Jae-yong, responsible for the hit My Sassy Girl, is back with another romantic comedy, My Mighty Princess, after a delay of more than two years.

The film will be released in S. Korea on June 26.

 

At a press conference held in Apgujeong-dong, Director Kwak commented:

 

"All the cast members signed on to the project because they counted on me, but they have been deceived. When I showed my screenplay to them, I told them all the wire action scenes would be done by doubles or stunts, but in fact the actors had to do all the wire actions themselves...The film is concerned about bright aspects - action, conflict, rather than emotions. The entertainment aspect plays a central part, so please just enjoy the show," Kwak said.

Cast: Shin Min-a (Volcano High) plays So-hui, a martial arts prodigy; On Ju-wan is her love interest Il-young.

(source: heraldm.com)

The 45th Daejong Film Awards

Seoul, June 27, 2008.


The Favorites

Nominated in 11 categories, The Chaser, a film about a serial murderer, with over 5 million viewers, the most successful Korean film of 2008, according to the Korean Film Council.
Director: Na Hong-jin.
Cast: Kim Yoon-seok (The War of Flower), Ha Jeong-woo.

Forever the Moment, with over 4 million viewers in S. Korea.

Seven Days, a thriller about a child who gets kidnapped, is nominated in 10 categories.
Director: Won Shin-yeon (A Bloody Aria); next project: “V” (from Taekwon V).

Shadows in the Palace, a thriller that takes place within the palace of the Joseon Dynasty, is nominated in eight categories.

Secret Sunshine (Milyang), with Song Kang-ho, directed by Lee Chang-dong.

Scout, a black comedy, with Im Chang-jeong, who plays a scout who tries to recruit Korea’s famous pitcher, Sun Dong-yeul.

Viva Love, with actress Kim Hye-sook, also nominated for best supporting actress for her role in the film Open City.

Director Heo Jin-ho´s Happiness.

The Happy Life, directed by Lee Joon-ik.

Public Enemy 1-1

Korean Cine News

After Silmido, the great duo Seoul Kyeong-gu and Jeong Jae-young are back in:

http://001-1.co.kr/

John Woo´s new film: 1949

1949 (2009, China)

Production: John Woo and Terence Chang (Lion Rock)

Screenplay: Wang Hui-ling (Lust, Caution)

Distribution: Fortissimo Films

Cast: Chang Chen, Song Hye-kyo.

Chinese epic, based on true events at the end of WWII and the final years of the Chinese Civil War, starring Taiwanese Chang Chen (Silk) and Korean actress Song Hye-kyo (Autumn in My Heart). The film will be Chinese-language, mixed with English.

Song Hye-kyo explained to the press at the 61st Cannes Film Festival, “John Woo contacted me [in January] after watching the film Hwang Jini. I’m incredibly honored to be working with a director I admire so much.”

“I met Chang Chen in an awards ceremony last March in Hong Kong. I had a good feeling about him and wanted to act with him, but I didn't know it would happen this quickly.”

"This movie takes place in 1949. There are three couples, and Chang Chen and I are one of them. After wealthily living in Shanghai, I lose my husband in the war and go to Taiwan. I meet Chang Chen and meet a new fate.”

 

Song Hye-kyo´s next projects:
Fetish - US supernatural thriller.
The World They Live On - director Pyo Min Su’s upcoming drama co-starring Hyun Bin.

John Woo's (Mission Impossible II) epic film Red Cliff will be released this summer, starring Chang Chen, Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Source: Starnews; Korea.net

Korean Cinema Invited to Cannes

South Korean films invited to the 2008 Cannes Film Festival

This year, Cannes opens it´s doors to a “more commercial” kind of movies produced in S. Korea, like The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (invited to the Out of Competition section).

The film The Chaser, by first time director Na Hong-jin, and a great success in Korea, will be screened for Midnight Screenings.

Late director Kim Ki-young´s thriller The Housemaid (1960) will be shown at the Classic section . “It is one of the most important works done by Kim, an eccentric figure in Korean film history, someone with extremely extraordinary imagination,” was digitally restored by the Korean Film Archive with sponsors from World Cinema Foundation lead by Martin Scorsese.

And the always brilliant director Bong Joon-ho (The Host) was invited to the Un Certain Regard section. Tokyo! is an omnibus film co-directed by Michel Gondry and Leos Carax, and in Shaking Tokyo segment, Bong pictures the lonely inner side of human beings through the scenery of a megacity named Tokyo.

There´s a great expectation with director Kim Jee-woon´s new film The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, after such different movies as The Foul King, A Tale of Two Sisters and A Bittersweet Life. In The Good… the director revives the so-called 'Manchurian Western', which was popular with Korean films back in 1960s and 70s. Korea's top actors Lee Byung-hun (JSA), Song Kang-ho (The Host) and Jung Woo-sung (Daisy) will be starring in it.

And short animation STOP, by Park Jae-wook will be screened for the Cinefondation section.

Cannes International Film Festival (May 14-25)
Out of Competition section: The Good, the Bad, the Weird; The ChaserUn Certain Regard: Tokyo!
Cinefondation: Stop (animation)
Cannes Classics: The Housemaid(source: Korean Film Council; koreatimes.co.kr)

Rain Stars Speed Racer

South Korean singer-actor Rain (Jeong Ji-hun) stars in Hollywood live action film Speed Racer, by the Wachowski brothers (Matrix franchise). The film will be released worldwide on May 8. As everybody knows, Speed Racer is based on “Mach Go Go Go,” the 1960s animé series by cartoonist Tatsuo Yoshida. Rain plays rookie racer Taejo Togokhan.
 

“He [Togokhan] has a forceful personality,” Rain said, noting that Togokhan is cast as the villain because he has such an overpowering urge to win. “No actor would have turned down this role, especially when the movie is directed by the Wachowski brothers”.
Rain’s scenes feature many Hangul letters, which indirectly introduce Korea and its culture. “I asked the production crew to portray Hangul characters in the scenes,” Jeong said. “As you will see in the film, Togokhan is written in Hangul. Many Westerners who saw the film said the letters were pretty.”

Rain didn’t actually get behind the wheel, since the racing scenes were shot on a green screen using a three-dimensional video-editing technique. “It would have been nice to have had the chance to barrel along,” he said.

And the great news for this young star are that the Wachowski brothers asked him to star as the main character in their next project, Ninja Assassin. “People say luck brings luck but in this case, I’m sure it was my hard work that won me this new role.”

Currently, Rain is training in Berlin for his Ninja Assassin scenes. “From 6 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, I receive hard-core training”. He works out every day to lose weight and he practices martial arts.
Source: Hong Soo-kyoung Movie Week

As for his music carrer, Rain contributed a song to the original soundtrack for the animated film Kung Fu Panda (2008). DreamWorks invited him to perform on the film as a singer.
“The key to success is not to stop challenging yourself, try new fields, remain focused and consider what you want,” Rain said.

Korean Stars News

* Jeon Do-yeon (Best Actress at Cannes for Secret Sunshine): filming A Fine Day, the movie is about an unemployed, single woman in her thirties who meets an ex-boyfriend and embarks on an adventure for a day. Co-stars Ha Jeong-woo (The Chaser).

* Choi Min-sik (Old Boy) is done filming Himalaya-Where the Wind Stops. The story: when a Nepalese factory worker dies in an accident, Choi Min-sik's character goes to a town in the Himalayas to give his family the remains. Director Jeon Soo-il (The Bird Who Stops in the Air), Producing Company Show East, music by Kim Hyeong-suk (My Sassy Girl).

* Song Kang-ho (The Host) will be appearing in the Western style blockbuster The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, an action movie of men who are in lawless Manchuria in the 1930s during Japanese control. It features other top stars such as Lee Byeong-Heon and Jeong Woo-seong.

* Seol Kyeong-gu and Director Kang Woo-suk are back for Public Enemy 3 (Kang Cheol-jung, Cinema Service). Shooting is set for this coming fall with the story following four years after the events that took place the orginial film. The sequel will also feature Jeong Jae-young (Going By the Book), Kang Shin-il (Black House), and Im Won-hee (Three… Extremes). Director Jang Jin will work as screenwriter.

* Yoo Ji-tae (Hwang Jin Yi) and Lee Youn-hee (M) are the stars of director/writer Ryu Jang-ha (Springtime, 2004) new film, the romantic drama Soonjeongmanwha (“pure comic strip”). It´s the story of a thirty-year-old office employee and a female student who run into each other every morning at an elevator. Both are secretly in love with each other.
Produced by Let’s Film, the film is scheduled for a release in the fall.
Source: KOFIC

12th Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival

The 12th Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF), the biggest annual event of its kind in Asia. SICAF, launched in 1995, has received formal recognition as an animation event from the Association International Du Film d'Animation in 2005.

Bringing together fans of animation films and an exhibition of cartoon work, the festival, which is to be held from May 21 to 25, will feature 137 animations from 30 countries, the most in the history of the annual event.

The animation lovers will be able to enjoy high-quality full-length features and shorts from around the world this year.

The films will be screened at Lotte Cinema near Konkuk University.
The finalists this year include award-winning animations such as The Peace Sister from Britain, Ark from Poland and Canada's Madam Tutli-Putli.

Tokyo Marble Chocolate, by Naoyoshi Shiotani
Synopsis
Yudai is serious and generous, but too shy with girls. Chizuru is a cheeful girl, but when it comes to boyfriends, she's always been clumsy. This is the first Christmas the young couple spends together, but everything is going to change because of ... a mini donkey?! A pure love story, colorful ans sweet, yet a bit bitter. Just like a piece of chocolate.

Source:
http://bit.ly/ca143x
For further information: http://www.sicaf.org/2008/eng/index.jsp

Bong Joon-ho’s "Mother"

''I want to make the saddest yet most beautiful crime drama ever," Bong said. "At the center of this story is a small and weak mother who stands alone, a woman so determined that she can't even stop herself.''

Movie: Mother (S. Korea, 2009)
Starring: the return of veteran actress KIM Hye-ja to the big screen, actor Won Bin, in his first film since Taegukgi, and My Brother.
Production: Barunson Film Division, Choi Jae-won and Seo Woo-sik.

 

The film is expected to start shooting this Fall on a budget of US$5 million.
Screenwriters: Bong Joon-ho and Park Eun-kyo.The plot: the story centers on a shy, awkward young man (Won Bin) framed as the perpetrator in a brutal slaying. His devoted and determined mother (Kim Hye-ja) pits herself against incompetence and corruption in the police and legal system as she sets out to uncover the truth and prove his son’s innocence.
(source: Korean Film Council)

Bong Joon-ho´s films: Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006); Tokyo (a Korea-France-Japan joint production)

Lee Byung-hun´s Hollywood Debut

Korean actor Lee Byung-hun had just finished his filming scenes in his Hollywood debut, G.I. Joe, an adaptation of the popular action-hero comic book series. Lee plays Storm Shadow, a ninja with a dark past who joins the G.I. Joe team, an elite military unit of highly trained recruits, each with his own specialty skill. In the film they take on an evil and powerful criminal syndicate led by Cobra, a notorious arms dealer.

Director: Stephen Sommers (The Mummy)
Production company: Paramount Pictures
Cast: Lee Byung-hun, Channing Tatum, Rachel Nichols, Dennis Quaid.
Release: summer of 2009.

Lee´s next projects:
* Director KIM Ji-woon’s (A Bittersweet Life) The Good, The Bad, The Weird.
* I Come With the Rain, by Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung, a France-US co-production.
* On TV: starring in the high budgeted spy thriller IRIS, produced by Lee Hyung-min, developed by Kang Je-kyu (Taegugki, Shiri), which is expected to air at the end of the year.

Jeonju International Film Festival

Jeonju International Film Festival

Twelve films from all over the world were selected for the international competition section of the the 9th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) slated from May 1st through 9th. The purpose of the Jeonju International Film Festival is to discover new, promising directors.

The panel of judges will be comprised of five reputed filmmakers from Korea and abroad, including Korean director Bong Joon-ho (The Host), actress Eom Ji-won (A Tale of Cinema), Iranian director Abolfazi Jalili, author and critic Chris Fujiwara, and Turkish culture writer Defne Gürsoy.

This year's program boasts a record total of 169 films with opening night going to Manda Kunitoshi's The Kiss in its International Premiere. And the curtain-closer will be the Korean omnibus film If You Were Me 4, produced by the National Human Rights Commission.

International Competition:

Captain Ahab (France), by Philippe Ramos

The Stolen Man (France), by Matias Pineiro

Tricks (Poland), by Andrzey Jakimowski (2007 Polish Film Festival, 'Golden Lion')

Continental, a Film Without Guns (Canada), by Stephane Lafleur (2007 Toronto International Film Festival, 'Canadian Best New Film Director')

Ballast (USA), by Lance Hammer (2008 Sundance Film Festival, 'Best Director Award')

Chop Shop (USA), by Ramin Bahrani

Cochochi (Mexico), by Guzman and Cardenas (2007 Toronto Film Festival, 'Discovery Award')

Sky, Earth, and Rain (Chile), by Jose Luis Torres Leiva (2008 Film Festival Rotterdam, 'FIPRESCI')

My Last Secret (China, Documentary), by Li Xiaofeng, Jia Kai

Years When I was Child Outside (Philippines), by John Torres

Strizh (Kazakhstan), by Abay Kulbayev (2007 International Film Festival Eurasia, 'Grand Prix')

Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (Iran), by Hana Makhmalbaf

JIFF´s homepage: http://eng.jiff.or.kr
(sources: KBS World; korea.net)