Fireflies in the Garden

Fireflies in the Garden may be Dennis Lee's first feature film, but the Korean American director just snagged Hollywood heavyweight, Julia Roberts as one of his leading ladies. Roberts joins a cast that includes Ryan Reynolds, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Emily Watson.

Written and directed by Lee, Fireflies in the Garden is a semiautobiographical drama about a family struggling to deal with unexpected tragedy. Dennis Lee was 29 when he enrolled in the master’s course in film studies at Columbia University in New York after studying politics at Chicago University. His maternal uncle is novelist Choi In-ho.

A story of the love between family members facing an unexpected tragedy, Fireflies in the Garden is semi-autographical. Lee confesses he found it very difficult to come with the loss of his mother, who died in a traffic accident eight years ago. The film, which begins with the scene where the mother (Julia Roberts) is involved in a traffic accident, is dedicated to the memory of his mother. “It seems that the only thing that lasts forever in life is parents’ love for their children. I dedicate the film to my deceased mother,” he says.
Source: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...802110014.html

Lee has already won an Academy Award for his student short film, Jesus Henry Christ in 2003.
Source: http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/070921/article.asp?parentID=78227

 

Epitaph (South Korea)

Korean Movie News
Korean thriller Epitaph (Gidam) review at:
http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm07.html#epitaph

12th Pusan International Film Festival

12th Pusan International Film Festival Winners
[Oct. 4 to 12]

Of the 11 films in the fest's only competitive section, New Currents, prizes of $30,000 were each awarded to Chinese-South Korean production Life Track, Malaysia's Flower in the Pocket, and Thailand's Wonderful Town.

Iranian helmer Dariush Mehrjui headed the five-member jury, which also included directors Romania's Cristian Mungiu, Serbia's Goran Paskaljevic and South Korea's Lee Chang-dong, plus mainland Chinese actress Yu Nan.

At the press conference today, Mehrjui made a point of mentioning three other movies that generated jury discussion: Filipino street-kid drama Tribe, Taiwanese criss-crosser God Man Dog and Japanese drama Asyl.

NEW CURRENTS AWARDS

Life Track (Gueh-Do)
Writer-Director: Jin Guang Hao / Producer: Jang Ryul , China-S. Korea
Life Track, a static rural drama about an armless man and a mute woman on the run from police.

Flower in the Pocket by Liew Seng-tat, Malaysia
Flower..., a slow-moving item centered on two schoolkids with speech impediments, saw many international crix bailing during the screenings.

Wonderful Town by writer director Aditya Assarat, Producer: Soros Sukhum, Thailand
A beautifully modulated, slow-burning romance, set in a post-tsunami Thai village.

Wonderful Town (Thailand)
A Pop Pictures production, Bangkok
Produced by Soros Sukhum, Jetnipith Teerakulchanyut
Directed, written by Aditya Assarat
Camera (color, HD-to-35mm): Umpornpol Yugala
Editor: Lee Chatametikool
Music: Zai Kuning and Koichi Shimizu
Production designer: Karanyapas Khamsin
Costume designer: Thanon Songsil
With: Anchalee Saisoontorn, Supphasit Kansen, Dul Yaambunying.Running time: 92 MIN.

Wonderful Town is a mix of romance and social realism set in a Thai village devastated by the last tsunami, about people struggling to rebuild their lives after the tragedy.

The Aditya Assarat's (3 Friends) solo directing debut is a touching film with powerful cathartic qualities. Ton (Supphasit Kansen) is a Bangkok architect sent to oversee the building of a new resort. The only guest at a spartan hotel, Ton is instantly attracted to its Thai-Chinese owner Na (Anchalee Saisoontorn). A reserved woman with a city education, Na appears unresponsive to Ton's polite overtures at first. But via a beautiful series of snapshots showing Na touching Ton's clothing and listening to him sing in the shower, she is able to externalize her true feelings. (...) Leading the voices of disapproval at the couple's flowering romance is Na's brother Wit (Dul Yaambunying), who heads a gang of motorbike-riding no-goods and calmly tells his sister he's a hopeless case for reform.

FIPRESCI AWARD
The Red Awn by Cai Shangjun, China
Well-mounted, professional helming debut by scripter Cai Shangjun pic generated positive response during the fest.

The Red Awn (Hongse kangbaiyin), China
Produced by Li Xudong. Executive producer: Wang Xiuling
Co-producers: Lin Nianxiu, Sun Xiaoxi
Directed by Cai Shangjun
Screenplay: Gu Xiaobai, Cai, Feng Rui
Camera: Li Chengyu, Chen Hao
Editor: Zhou Ying
Music: Huang Zhenyu, Dong Wei
Art directo: Zhang Dajun; Sound: Xia Xin, Hu Liang
With: Yao Anlian, Lu Yulai, Huang Lu, Shi Junhui, Wang Hong
Running time: 105 MIN.

Directorial debut of screenwriter Cai Shangjun (Spicy Love Soup, Shower, Sunflower), The Red Awn is a quietly affecting father-and-son drama set amid the scenic cornfields of central Gansu province.

Yao Anlian (Shanghai Dreams) is Song, a man who returns to his village after five years away working to find he’s been officially registered as dead by his 17-year-old son, Yongtao (Lu Yulai, Peacock). In Song’s absence, his wife has fallen sick and died, and Yongtao mopes around, scarcely talking to his dad. Song sets out with a friend, Yongshan (Shi Junhui), who owns a red combine harvester, to cut wheat in surrounding fields. Yongtao reluctantly joins them but remains surly, at one point almost running his dad down with the harvester. Yongtao shows interest in the attractive but slightly trashy young owner of one field (Huang Lu, Blind Mountain). Thinking she’s a hooker from the city, Song offers her money to bed Yongtao, a misunderstanding that doesn’t help the father-son relationship one bit. But as the harvesting season wears on, and a recurrent back problem plagues Song, the two slowly grow closer.

NETPAC AWARD, SHARED
Hello, Stranger (Cheum Mannan Saramdeul) by Kim Dong-hyun, Producer: Park Jin-Soo, S. Korea.
An accessible dramedy, centered on North Korean refugees in the South.
With a Girl of Black Soil by Jeon Soo-il, S. Korea

AUDIENCE AWARD
Flower in the Pocket

SONJE AWARD, BEST KOREAN SHORT, SHARED
Woong's Story by Lee Ha-song, S. Korea
A Man under the Influence by Jung July, S. Korea

WOONPA AWARD, BEST KOREAN DOCUMENTARY
Tear Drops by Mun Jeong-hyun, S. Korea 

Tea House and Cinema Music Selection

THC October Music Podcast (01)

John Water´s Hairspray

The original John Water´s Hairspray Poster

Oxide Pang´s The Detective

Hong Kong Director Oxide Pang´s new thriller The Detective, it´s about a private detective (Tam, played by Aaron Kwok), that is hired by a guy nicknamed Fatty, to find a lady who wanted to kill him. He gives Tam a portrait of the lady without any further details. Tam identifies the lady as Sum, a mahjong player. The detective starts tracking her whereabouts through her mahjong playmates, but is shocked to find each of them murdered every time he is about to be in contact with them. He discovers a half-burned photo at one of the scenes. Tam realises the suspicions behind the deaths and decides that he has to protect the next target of the invisible murderer. The photo is the only clue for Tam to uncover the case.

The Detective (Hong Kong, 2007)

Director:Oxide Pang Chun
Producer: Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang Fat
Cast: Aaron Kwok Fu-Sing, Liu Kai-Chi, Shing Fui-On, Kiki Sheung Tin-Ngor, Lau Siu-Ming, Lai Yiu-Cheung, Elle Choi, Jo Koo, Kenny Wong Tak-Bun

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HK Cinema: Chow Yun-fat / Donnie Yen

Good News!!! Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat (Curse of the Golden Flower ) and director Johnnie To (Exiled) are in talks to shoot a Hong Kong action movie together, for the first time.

Donnie Yen is to star in Painted Skin, a rare Chinese supernatural actioner being put together as a China-Singapore co-production. The $10 million budget period pic is to be jointly helmed by Wilson Yip Wai-shun (Dragon Tiger Gate) and Andy Chin Wing-keung (Dragon Chronicles).

The Forbidden Kingdom

Chan and Li throw “rotten tomatoes” at The Forbidden Kingdom

Actor Jackie Chan have been talking abou the new Hollywood action movie he shot with Jet Li, saing honestly that "isn't great". And Jet Li said in his blog that fans should not have overly high expectations for the film.

The Forbidden Kingdom, which finished shooting in China last month, has been anticipated because it´s the first collaboration between the two chinese stars.
They have been playing down the film's potential appeal to Chinese viewers, saying it is targeted at a U.S. audience.

The Web site 'Xinhua News Agency' quoted Chan as saying, "The movie I just shot with Jet Li, actually isn't that great.", is a movie made for Americans. Chinese viewers may not like it. If I say it's a good movie now, then many people will be filled with overly high expectations and be disappointed when they see the movie."

Before shooting on The Forbidden Kingdom started, he told reporters, "I don't have any expectations. It's just making an American movie."
"I believe the world is anticipating the movie, but I'm not too involved," Chan also said at the time.

Separately, Li made similar remarks, seen on Li's Web site, "I hope everyone uses an open mind to watch The Forbidden Kingdom and not invest too much expectation into my fight scenes with Jackie Chan," he said.

The Forbidden Kingdom is about an American teenager's fantasy journey to ancient China to rescue a mythological monkey king. Based on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," in which a monkey king, a pig and a friar guard a Buddhist monk in search of religious texts. "After all, this is a story about an American child's dream 'Journey to the West' created by American producers and American scriptwriters. We may have to look at many elements in the movie from a different angle. " Li plays the monkey king and a silent monk, while Chan plays another monk called T'sa-Ho.

Well, I´m pretty sure the Chan-Li fans (the people that enjoy their Chinese movies, not his mediocre American adventures) outside Asia are antecipating the film, and the two stars know that, and nobody had forced them into this project. They are powerful enough to do a decent job, in China or America, if it was their true wish. Just be hotesty and say “I´m in it for the money”, guys! They should do a Chinese comedy alla “The Odd Couple”. That would be funny!

Director: Rob Minkoff
Writer:John Fusco
Release Date:18 April 2008 (USA)

Tsubaki Sanjuro (Japan)

Remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1962 classic Sanjuro.
Scheduled to release in Japan on December 1st, 2007

Screenplay: Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa, and Hideo Oguni (based on the original novel by Shugoro Yamamoto)

Starring: Yuji Oda (Bayside Shakedown 2), Kenichi Matsuyama (Shindô) , Anne Suzuki (Initial D), Etsushi Toyokawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Morio Kazama, Tamao Nakamura, Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Makoto Fujita, Tokuma Nishioka, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Takuya Nakayama, Ryohei Suzuki, Ichitaro, Kimito Totani, Kazuhito Tomikawa, Yukichi Kobayashi, Eri Murakawa, and Yoshihiro Kasuya.
 

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Assembly film Poster (China, 2007)

"Every Sacrifice Deserves to be Immortalized"
Trailer link: http://bit.ly/aZxMAj























Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's new war film The Assembly is adapted from a short story about a soldier who seeks recognition for his fallen comrades during the Chinese civil war (1945 - 1949).

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone - Japanese animation



(Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Jo)Chief Director:Hideaki AnnoDirector:Kazuya Tsurumaki & Masayuki Screenplay:Hideaki Anno
Animation Production:Studio Khara
homepage: http://www.evangelion.co.jp/
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Toronto International Film Festival (2007)

Toronto International Film Festival Winners
OTTAWA, Sept. 15 2007

Eastern Promises, a thriller by Canadian director David Cronenberg, won the Cadillac People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival which closed Saturday after screening 349 films over ten days.

The London-set film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai(starred by Viggo Mortensen), a Russian gangster tied to one of London's most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is shaken when he crosses paths with Anna (starred by Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family.
official movie homepage: www.focusfeatures.com/easternpromises/

“... nobody goes quite so far in making it (violence) all look realistic than Canadian director David Cronenberg, whose Russian mob movie Eastern Promises contains the single most disturbing moment of movie violence I have ever seen. It comes at the end of a bloody bathhouse battle between a buck-naked Viggo Mortensen and two hired assassins in black leather jackets, and Cronenberg himself, in an interview with Canadian news magazine Maclean’s, has likened it to the classic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as “the scene that will get (people) to see the movie.” But Cronenberg also says that the explicit scene — one of three graphic, violent moments in a tense, dark movie — is essential because it shows death for what it is, rather than the James Bond-style action-movie punch-ups, where the hero takes battering after battering, and still stands up to fight another day.” (source: http://blogs.reuters.com/category/events/toronto-2007/)

The Prize of the International Critics Association (FIPRESCI Prize) went to Rodrigo Pla's LA ZONA, a revenge drama set around a gated community in Mexico City. This award is annually bestowed upon a feature film directed by an emerging filmmaker, and making its world premiere at the festival.

The Diesel Discovery Award, voted on by the 1,000 members of the international media attending the festival, was awarded to Cochochi, from directors Israel Cardenas and Laura Amelia Guzman. The film is about two brothers who become separated when attempting to deliver a package to a faraway community.

The Artistic Innovation award went to another Spanish-language film, Anahi Berneri's Encarnacion, an Argentinean film about an aging actress who returns to her hometown, which was cited by the jury for its for its "critique of mainstream cinema" and issues around the "fetishization of the female body." (source: http://news.xinhuanet.com)

Assembly to Open Pusan Film Fest

The 12th Pusan International Film Festival (Oct. 4 to 12) will open with the world premiere of Chinese director Feng Xuaogang’s (The Banquet) new movie Assembly.

Co-produced by China’s Huay Brothers and Korea’s MK Pictures, Assembly is a drama about a man who devotes his life to restoring the honor of a comrade who disappeared during the war.

The theme of the festival this year is "Beyond Frame", symbolizing the importance of breaking down barriers that divide people within the world's film industry. PIFF has emerged as a major film festival in Asia, where innovative regional films are introduced to moviegoers, film critics, journalists and distributors.

The newly-added section, “Gala Presentation”, screens master artists' new or the year's most talked-about films. This year, the section will feature the latest works by Lee Myung-se, Royston Tan and Hou Hsiao Hsien. Organizers said there will be one screening per day during the festival period, making this branch "a festival within a festival".

And “Flash Forward”, a new world cinema section, looks into young filmmakers who stand out in the industry. This year, Kriv Stenders's Boxing Day, Serge Bozon's France, and Michael Kang's West 32nd will be featured, along with eight other innovative films by young directors.

Finally, the Korean Cinema Retrospective section will be devoted to Kim Seung-ho, a famous actor in the 1950s and 1960s, and seven Korean films which the office of Cutlural Heritage Administration has designated as "National Assets".

One thing to look forward to is a special program in honor of the late Edward Yang, one of Asia's most prominent filmmakers, who died in June. Festival organizer Kim said the program will feature Yang's entire film lineup, adding that the festival staff made great efforts to secure all eight films.
Pusan festival homepage at http://bit.ly/cIWStT

"This year, PIFF will focus on helping Asian films play a bigger role in the world market, while promoting exchanges that go beyond continents", festival director Kim Dong-ho said at a news conference held last week. The international premiere of the Japanese animation Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone by Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki and Masayuki will close the festival. The animation is a new theatre adaptation of 1995 TV animation Neon Genesis Evangelion, the first of three films Anno has planned and is released in Japan on Sept. 1. Source: http://english.chosun.com/

The Festival will feature a record 274 films from 64 countries, along with gala events in the southeastern port city of Pusan.

PUSAN Korean Cine Festival

PUSAN cine festival news:

The jury of the the 2007 Pusan International Film Festival - PIFF named Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow) to head the jury of its 12th edition. The New Currents jury will include Chinese actress Nan Yu (Tuya’s Marriage), Lee Chang-dong (Secret Sunshine), Serbian filmmaker Goran Paskaljevic (The Powder Keg) and Romanian director Christian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days). Leesong Hee-il (No Regrets), producer Kim Il-Kwon and documentary director Choiha Dong-ha (Taxi Blues) will comprise the Sonje Jury, responsible for choosing the best Korean short film and documentary in the Wide Angle section.
Site: http://www.piff.org/

Venice International Film Festival

Ang Lee wins Golden Lion

Taiwanese director Ang Lee has walked off with the best film award at the Venice film festival.

Lust, Caution (Se, Jie) won the Golden Lion late on Saturday, two years after Lee  scooped the big prize for American drama Brokeback Mountain. Reporters and critics in the press room, watching the closing ceremony beamed live on a big screen, booed when Lee's Golden Lion was announced.

Reviews of Lust, Caution were generally negative, arguing that at 156 minutes it was much too long. The explicit and sometimes violent sex scenes are getting more attention than the story and acting skills. I guess the fact that is the third consecutive year that a Chinese director has won the Golden Lion had upset some people. Jury president Zhang Yimou said Lee's movie has won applause from all of the seven-member jury.

Lee had made an excellent integration of international resources while filming Lust, Caution, which played an important role in winning him the award, he said. Anyway, can´t wait to watch the film!

But, happily, in Taiwan the people were flushed with pride on Sunday as favorite son and world famous director Ang Lee took Venice film festival's top award.

"Ang Lee steals another Golden Lion," proclaimed the United Daily News, calling him "the glory of Taiwan". "Ang Lee has again won glory for Taiwan," proclaimed the China Times. Both papers pointed out how Lee's two wins, coupled with Jia Zhangke's win last year for Still Life, mean the coveted award has gone to ethnic Chinese directors for the last three years. Jia's Wuyong, or Useless, took the Orizzonti Doc Prize at this year's Venice Film Festival.

Lee told the red carpet prize ceremony that the movie "has taken me to some very difficult places." The director said he was accepting the prize "in the shadow of the passing of two great giants, Michaelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman."

The director said he would like to dedicate the award to Bergman, whom he saw while working on Lust, Caution. "Ingmar hugged me the way a mother hugs a child. This hug was not for me, it was for you, the keepers of cinema," he said. Bergman died on July 30, and Antonioni of Italy one day later. Lee also expressed his gratitude to Chinese viewers and his colleagues in Hong Kong, saying that he hoped to share the award with all Chinese.

List of the main winners

GOLDEN LION FOR BEST FILM
"Lust, Caution" by Chinese director Ang Lee China

SILVER LION FOR BEST DIRECTOR
"Redacted" by U.S. director Brian De Palma US

SPECIAL JURY PRIZES
1. Tunisia-born director Abdellatif Kechiche for "La Graine et Le Mulet"("The Secret of the Grain")
2. U.S. director Todd Haynes for "I'm Not There" US

SPECIAL GOLDEN LION FOR BODY OF WORK
Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov Russia

BEST ACTOR
U.S. actor Brad Pitt for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" US

BEST ACTRESS
Australian Cate Blanchett for "I'm Not There" Australia

BEST YOUNG ACTOR OR ACTRESS
French actor Hafsia Herzi for "The Secret of the Grain" France

BEST SCREENPLAY
British Paul Laverty for Ken Loach's "It's a Free World..." UK

ORIZZONTI PRIZE
"Sugisball" (Autumn Ball) by Veiko Ounpuu of Estonia

ORIZZONTI DOC PRIZE
"Wuyong" (Useless) by Jia Zhangke of China

SPECIAL MENTION:
"Death in the Land of Encantos" by Lav Diaz of the Philippines

THC Wallpaper

THC Wallpaper - September calendar

Johnnie To´s Trilogy

Johnnie To to film trilogy thriller - NEWS

Johnnie To´s next project will be a trilogy thriller based on the popular online novel Ghost Blows Out the Light.

The Shanghai-based Meridian Pictures Group will produce the movie. To was invited to supervise the shooting of the trilogy, and will choose to direct one of the three pieces. The screenplay hasn't been finished yet.

Chinese film director Zhang Yibai, with award-winning work, The Longest Night in Shanghai, is back to his hometown of Chongqing in southwestern China, shooting a star-studded new film. The film, titled Shao Nian or The Boy, its cast members
including new comer, Tan Jianci, as the leading role, while other performers will be top actors from Hong Kong, including Eason Chan, Eric Tsang, Karen Mok, and mainland actress Jiang Wenli.

Zhang Yibai's romantic feature The Longest Night in Shanghai, starring Chinese actress Zhao Wei and Japanese actor Masahiro Motoki, won the Press Prize at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival.
(http://english.cri.cn/)

Toronto International Film Festival

Taiwanese director Ang Lee's Lust, Caution and Alexi Tan's Blood Brothers were invited to the Toronto Film Festival.

Alexi Tan's Blood Brothers, a crime drama set in 1930s Shanghai, was one of the two Asian films to be shown as gala presentations. The other one is Indian director Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Year.

Lust, Caution, an erotic espionage thriller, based on Eileen Chang's short story about a shy Chinese drama student drawn into an assassination plot against a Japanese collaborator during WWII is co-written by Focus CEO James Schamus and Wang Hui Ling. Tony Leung (Hero) and newcomer Tang Wei star. The festival is set to last from September 6 to 15.

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Jet Li News

Warlords
- Director Peter Chan´s new movie The Warlord tells the story of brotherly betrayal, revenge and murder set in China riven by civil war in 1860. Featuring three of Asia's hottest male leads Andy Lau, Jet Li and Takeshi Kaneshiro, and rising mainland actress Xu Jinglei.

"It’s a heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval. It is based on “The Assassination of Ma,” a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story about the killing of general Ma Xinyi." The film is scheduled to hit Asia at December 2007.

The story isn´t new and has been filmed several times. One notable version was Hong Kong director Chang Chek's Ci Ma or The Blood Brothers in 1973.
official website: http://www.warlordsthemovie.com/
I´m the Mummy
- Actress Michelle Yeoh and action star Jet Li will star in the third episode of "The Mummy" series, Mummy: Curse of the Dragon. Yeoh will play a wizard, and Li plays the mummy guy. In this episode, the mummy is China's first Emperor of Qin, a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by the wizard centuries ago. However, the wizard will try her best to defeat the mummy and his troops, who were unearthed by a father and son. Actor Brendon Fraser is back as the american hero, with Maria Bello and Isabella Leung as co-stars.

Jet Li and Jackie Chan´s KingdomAction stars Jet Li and Jackie Chan are worried they are too old to pull off fight scenes, and are warning audiences not to get their hopes up about their new film.Li, 44, and Chan, 53, are starring together in The Forbidden Kingdom, marking the first time the martial arts legends have been paired up for a movie. Li says, "When Jackie Chan and I first wanted to work together 15 years ago, our passion was at its peak. "Our desire to succeed was very strong. Now we joke that when we watch the The Forbidden Kingdom our combined age is 100.”

- A Westernized take on the classic "Journey to the West" tale, the new version is about an American teenager (Michael Angarano) discovers a staff which transports him to ancient China where he joins in a quest to return the staff to the Monkey King. Jet Li plays the dual role of the Monkey King and Silent Monk while Jackie Chan will play a kung fu master named Lu Yan. Forbidden Kingdom is directed by Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little) for a 2008 release; the film also stars Collin Chou, Li Bingbing, and Liu Yifei. Yuen Woo-ping will choreograph all the action.
more at: http://www.jetliuk.com/ and and http://http://www.alivenotdead.com/

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Venice Film Festival 2007

Venice Official Selection
ROME

Following are the 22 films selected for competition at this year's Venice film festival, to run from Wednesday through September 8.

"Atonement" by Joe Wright (Britain, United States).
"The Darjeeling Limited" by Wes Anderson (United States).

"Sleuth" by Kenneth Branagh (Britain, United States).
"Heya Fawda" (Chaos) by Youssef Chahine (Egypt).
"Redacted" by Brian De Palma (United States).
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" by Andrew Dominik (United States).
"Nessuna Qualita agli Eroi" by Paolo Franchi (Italy, Switzerland, France).
"Michael Clayton" by Tony Gilroy (United States).
"Nightwatching" by Peter Greenaway (Canada, France, Germany, Poland, The Netherlands, Britain).
"En la Ciudad de Sylvia" by Jose Luis Guerin (Spain).
"In the Valley of Elah" by Paul Haggis (United States, Morocco).
"I'm Not There" by Tod Haynes (United States).
"Taiyang Zhaochang Shenqi" (The Sun Also Rises) by Jiang Wen (China, Hong Kong).
"Bangbang Wo Aishen" (Help Me Eros) by Lee Kang Sheng (Taiwan).
"La Graine et le Mulet" by Abdellatif Kechiche (France).
"Se Jie" (Lust, Caution) by Ang Lee (China, United States).
"It's a Free World" by Ken Loach (Britain, Italy, Germany, Spain).
"L'Ora di Punta" (Rush Hour) by Vincenzo Marra (Italy).
"Sukiyaki Western Django" by Miike Takashi (Japan).
"12" by Nikita Mikhalkov (Russia).
"Il Dolce e l'Amaro" by Andrea Porporati (Italy).
"Les Amours d'Astree et Celadon" by Eric Rohmer (France, Italy, Spain)

Eleven films qualified for the festival's Horizons section:

"Sad Vacation," by Shinji Aoyama (Japan).
"Mal Nascida" by Joao Canijo (Portugal).
"Searchers 2.0" by Alex Cox (United States).
"Medee Miracle" by Tonino De Bernardi (Italy, France).
"Cochochi" by Laura Amelia Guzman and Israel Cardenas (Mexico, Britain, Canada).
"Geomen Tangyi Sonyeo Oi" (With the Girl of Black Soil), by Jeon Soo-il (South Korea, France)*.
"L'Histoire de Richard O." by Damien Odoul (France)
"Sugisball" (Autumn Ball) by Veiko Ounpuu (Estonia).
"Die Stille vor Bach" (The Silence Before Bach) by Pere Portabella (Spain)
"Exodus," by Penny Woolcock (Britain).
"Xiaoshuo" (The Obscure), by Lu Yue (China). 


*Starring world star Kang Su-yeon, in her first big-screen work in 20 years, it´s the story of a nine-year-old girl from a mining village in Gangwon Province and her views on her family and the world. Kang plays the girl's mother in the movie. Kang gained global acclaim in 1987 by winning the Best Leading Actress award at the festival for her role in Lim Kwon-taek's movie "The Surrogate Woman. Lim Kwon-taek's movie "Beyond the Years" will also participate in the festival in the non-competition category.

Another 11 films will vie for the Horizons Documentary Prize:

"Staub" (Dust) by Hartmut Bitomsky (Germany).
"Madri" by Barbara Cupisti (Italy).
"Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto" (Death in the Land of Encantos) by Lav Diaz (Philippines).
"Man from Plains" by Jonathan Demme (United States).
"L'Aimee" by Arnaud Desplechin (France).
"San" (Umbrella) by Du Haibin (China).
"Andarilho" by Cao Guimaraes (Brazil).
"Wuyong" (Useless) by Jia Zhangke (China).
"Il Passaggio della Linea" by Pietro Marcello (Italy).
"Anabazys" by Joel Pizzini and Paloma Rocha (Brazil).
"Berlin" by Julian Schnabel (United States).

Heo Jin-ho´s "Happiness" in Toronto

Toronto International Film Festival
The Korean director Heo Jin-ho´s film "Happiness" starring Hwang Jeong-min and Im Soo-jeong has officially been invited to the 32nd Toronto International Film Festival, at the festival's Contemporary World Cinema category. “Happiness” depicts the ultimately cruel love story of a couple who first meet at a nursing home.The 2007 Cannes winner, Korean film “Secret Sunshine” was invited at the same category.

San Sebastian International Film Festival

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GIDAM - The Korean horror flick 'Gidam' was invited to the 55th San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain, to be screened in the 'Zabaltegi' category of this year's festival. The 'Zabaltegi' category invites films that have received sound reviews in major international film festivals or films by up-and-coming directors worth noticing. 'Gidam' is a horror movie about a mysterious incident that took place at the Gyeongseong Ahnsaeng Hospital in 1942. The film has attracted a large number of moviegoers with its fresh story line, scenes that appeal to the aesthetic sense and the underlying sadness behind the prevailing horror.

Gidam (Epithaph)
Synopsis

In a modern hospital in 1941, doctors witness weird events and learn death is the sole healer. In 1979, Dr. Park receives an old photo album from his twenties in 1941 when mysterious things befell him and his colleagues. Park was bound by his parents to marry a girl whom he never met, but fell in love with a dead woman who happened to be his arranged marriage. Meanwhile, a little girl who was apparently the only survivor a car accident was haunted by ghosts every night. After two doctors (a married couple) involved in these two stories return to their hospital from Tokyo, a series of serial murders occurs around them.

San Sebastian loves the korean movies!

Korean films have done particularly well at the San Sebastian film festival.
In 2005, film director Kang Yi-kwan's 'Apple' was invited to the film festival, and he received the award for best new screenwriter. Director Kim Ki-duk's 'The Bow' also received good reviews) In 2002, 'The Way Home' was invited to the new director category and received a special jury prize and in 2003. And 'Memories of Murder' received awards for best director and best new director.

Join Security Area / Happy Christmas (filmes)

Double Pack – THC Recommends!

“Join Security Area” and “Happy Christmas”
Two excellet films that meditate on the unitility of the wars.

The European Union (EU) is a clear example of how the time heals the wounds and tranforms old enemies in allies – if you don´t consider the economic and not fraternal reasons that so many times surpass the political-ideological divergences.The question is – it´s easier to hit a faceless adversary – the stranger is feared or hated.

“Join Security Area”. Korea is a country separated by war, a recent wound in the asian continent history. So much more than an imaginary line divide the korean people, it has been years of suffering and alienation on both sides.

The Join Security Area is this military controled zone, the DMZ, where take place the film story. A young South Korean soldier, bored with the routine of guarding the frontier, gradually makes contact with two soldiers of the opposite side. The watchfullness nights turn into a secret friendship between this men – an uncertain attempt of catching a glimpse of one another lifes. They´re like brothers separated at birth. Nevertheless, tragically, the men will find out that the boundary between north and south is bigger than a small bridge, it´s an ideologic and emotional canyon.

“Happy Christmas”. The Great War, later known as the WWI, was perhaps the most cruel of the battles the Ocident ever saw. At that time, the principal strategy of the generals was to place the soldiers inside the trenchs, fighting hand to hand with the enemy, marching forward literaly over their bodies. It was a carnage.

As in JSA, the confrontation ends with a meeting of enemy soldiers, in this case in the middle of the batllefield. The slow progress of the troops, and the waiting for reinforcements, leaded to a situation of extreme human degradation.

It´s the european winter, the fields are covered with snow, the soldiers are cold and hungry, inside the insalubrious trenchs. Christmas Eve arrives with combat inside french territory. At one side we have the French and the Scottish men, at the opposite side the German invaders, leaded by Kaiser Wilhelm II. The German commanders, in a situation of superiority at that moment, did encourage their soldiers with christmas trees and food, while de French guys had to count even their gun bullets. But the little miracle happens when a truce is made to gather the dead soldiers at the frozen fields. Being face to face, a christmas spirit´s spark lights this sufferer men´s hearts. A modest party is improvised and the enemy get together to make a toast – a symbolical wish of future days of peace. And the peace would come, but at the expense of so many lives.

Read more about the true story of the Christmas Truce at:http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/christmastruce.htm

Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA
(DVD/ South Korea/ 2000/ 110 min)
Director: Park Chan-wook (Oldboy)
Screenwriters: Jeong Seong-san, Kim Hyeon-seok
Actors: Lee Yeong-ae, Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Kim Tae-woo, Shin Ha-kyun

Awards: Best Film at Blue Dragon Awards (2000); Grand Bell Awards 2001 (Best Film, Best Art Direction, Best Actor: Song Kang-ho, Best Sound: Kim Seok-weon, Kim Won-Yong); Best Film (Lotus award) at Deauville Asian Film Festival (2001); Best Foreign Language Film at Blue Ribbon Awards (2002).

Joyeux Noël (Happy Christmas)
“France 1914. A moment of humanity that made history. On Christmas Eve during world War I, the Germans, French, and Scottish are trying to make peace, so they bury their dead and play football.”
France / Germany / UK / Belgium / Romania/2005/116 min
Director/screenwriter: Christian Carion
Actors: Daniel Brühl, Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Gary Lewis, Dany Boon
Awards: Best Feature at Leeds International Film Festival (2005), FIPRESCI Prize at Valladolid International Film Festival (2005), Nominated to Oscar Best Foreign Language Film of the Year (2006).

"Cinema Quotes"

“You can see the trend for films all over the world to become more and more similar,” I want to see a diversity of films that reflect different cultures rather than copy Hollywood formulas… I want Asian films to be Asian. It’s important to express your own ideas and it’s sad films are becoming so commercial and so similar”
~ Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami

Asia Shines at Venice Film Festival

Venice International Film Festival

The upcoming festival, opens on August 29, and Chinese director Zhang Yimou (Curse of the Golden Flower) will be heading the jury´s festival.

Other chinese director, Jia Zhangke, will take his newly-finished documentary Useless to compete for this year's Horizons Documentary Prize. The film, finished earlier this month, focuses on Chinese fashion designer Ma Ke and her clothing line Useless. Jia Zhangke was the winner of last year's Golden Lion award, the festival's highest prize, for Still Life.

Actor-director Jiang Wen is eyeing the Golden Lion for his third directorial work The Sun Also Rises.

John Woo´s production Blood Brothers has been selected to close the festival on September 8.

And finally, director Ang Lee is also likely to present his new work Lust, Caution, which stars Tony Leung.

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THC Stories

"Going to the Movies"
Funny Stories

Introduction

The old, giant street movie theaters, well, they are gone. We have welcomed the multiplex, the dolby-stereo, digital cinema, mountains of popcorn and rivers of soda. Personally, all I need is a box of Mentos.My brothers and I had loved the matinees, the Disney films and classic animations. It was always a large group of friends marching downtown, to the movie theater.
I don´t remember what my first movie was, probably Disney´s “Fantasy”. I do remember the classics like “Snow White”, “Pinocquio”, “Bambi”, and the french “Asterix”– I was a great fan of Goscinny and Uderzo´s graphic novels.

Chapter One: The Travolta NightmareWhen I was a teenage, I had this girlfriend that was crazy about John Travolta. She used to make albums of Travolta´s magazine photos and articles. So, to bound, I started my own collection – that album may still exist, though I haven´t see it in years.
At the opening of the most awaited “Saturday Night Fever” movie– it was summer – we faced long lines to watch Travolta in his tight white suit. It was a very adult film and I was properly shocked by some spicy scenes. The OST was an instant hit, and everybody was dancing with one arm pointing to the sky.

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Travolta was god! Every smart girl was in love with his blue eyes and big teeth.
Without the internet´s amusement – it was that 70´s days! - we had to wait patiently for his next movie. The expectation was great, and nobody was disappointed with Travolta´s new blockbuster – “Grease”.
Grease was so funny, and romantic, and I totally had identified myself with Olivia Newton-John´s soft, candid character. Finally I could make a well deserved scrapbook, like a true fan.
But...no love lasts forever, or at least a heart can be broken by a bad film.What a nightmare! Imagine the terror of watching the worst movie ever – twice in a roll. All because of that silly friend that loved blindly this hollywood star, formely known as “the bubble boy”. In the middle of the second section of “Moment by Moment”, I had a terrible stomach ache. That night almost destroyed my love for the cinema.
Worst experience I´d have years later, with Prince´s “Purple Rain”. But that´s another story...

{ Based on actual events, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)
became part of another true-life tragedy when John Travolta's lover, Diana Hyland, who won an Emmy for her portrayal of his mother, died of cancer within a year of its release. The role of a teenager born with an acute immunity deficiency was something of a risk for Travolta, who was then cutting a dash as Vinnie Barbarino in the sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter. But his combination of courage and vulnerability does him credit, while Randal Kleiser (who would direct him in Grease) avoids undue schmaltz in depicting his relationship with neighbour Glynnis O'Connor.}

Travolta´s bio: http://www.imdb.com/