KOFFIA, the Korean Film Festival in Australia, is back for another year. Kicking off in Sydney from 10 August 2016, and concluding in Perth on 25 September, the annual selection of of contemporary Korean films has been teased on this new poster from the Korean Culture Centre.
Going counterclockwise from the top of the stylish gourmet offering, Jang Jae-hyeon’s exorcism thriller THE PRIESTS (검은 사제들), starring Kim Yun-Seok and Gang Dong-Won looks like it will make its local debut. Next up is Jung Ji-Woo’s FOURTH PLACE (4등), about a boy who always comes 4th in swimming races, so his mother hires a swimming coach.
2015 blockbuster ASSASSINATION (암살), and indeed only the 12th South Korean film to surpass 10 million ticket sales at the South Korean box-office, makes its way to Australia. Choi Dong-hoon directs the film about an agent (Lee Jung-Jae) in the 1930s planning an assassination using the deadly sniper An Ok-Yoon (Gianna Jun). This is definitely one to see on the big screen if you are in the neighbourhood.
Then there’s COLLECTIVE INVENTION (aka THE MUTANT or 돌연변이), which is the film with the fish boy in the image. The black comedy comes from director Kwon Oh-Kwang, and takes a bite out of pharmaceutical companies.
Finally, one our favourites from the Sydney Film Festival, ALICE IN EARNESTLAND (성실한 나라의 앨리스), making an appearance this year. Ahn Gooc-jin’s debut film is an inky black comedy taking on the South Korean revenge genre, as one woman goes down the metaphorical rabbit hole.
The full KOFFIA program is announced shortly. Check koffia.com.au for all the details.
