Category: Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA)

The Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) is the inaugural Korean Film Festival
organised by the Consulate-General of the Republic of Korea in Sydney. DVD Bits/The Reel Bits has been a partner since the launch in 2010.

Oki’s Movie

It is fair to say that Hong Sang-soo is a filmmaker who defies the conventions of traditional audience-driven cinema. Hong reached the heights of his international acclaim in the last year following the success of Hahaha, winning the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival over Derek Cianfrance, Xavier Dolan and Jean-Luc Godard.

In the face of a market that demands the increasingly action-packed, dramatic and stylish horror-filled cinema that South Korea is rapidly developing a reputation for, Hong Sang-soo’s cinema is a contemplative one, eschewing the beatification of national monuments for the examination of the details of the every day.

Ostensibly, Oki’s Movie (옥희의 영화) is about Oki (Yung Yu-mi, A Million) making a short film at college. Her friend Jingu (Lee Sun-kyun, Officer of the Year) expresses his feelings for her, not knowing that she is secretly romantically involved with Professor Song (Moon Sung-keun, Visitors). Dealing with three separate but interacting characters, Oki’s Movie is split into four sections, each framed within the conceit of being a student film made in amateur fashion.

With Oki’s Movie, much like other films from Hong, there is an element of autobiographical self-reflection to the narrative, steeped in the master-apprentice world of filmmakers and film students. Opening with rough, amateurish credits (complete with Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” blaring over the speakers) that are also used as a framing technique for the four segments, this film has many of Hong’s signature touches. The comedic moments are all there, especially in a hilarious opening section in which a drunken Jingu downs a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue, at least to start with, and proceeds to tell Song exactly what he thinks.

Yet in an uncharacteristic move, the film is told from the perspective of a woman, as the title would imply. This makes the awkwardly intimate moments in which Jingu professes his love, or the strange relationship between Song and Jingu, all the more comical. Audiences may have difficulty accessing this world due to its rough frankness, but once you go with it, it is far more rewarding than the manufactured relationships of its Hollywood brethren.

The strongest of the segments, aside from Jingu’s opening gambit, is the final section narrated by Oki. Here Hong, by way of Oki’s titular movie, juxtaposes Oki’s separate walks in the park with her two suitors. Here Hong is at his best, delivering an intensely personal study tied to a specific time and place, finding the moments of humour and intimacy in the simple act of taking the same walk with two different men: the older man and the younger man. There is an almost fairytale-realism to the sequence, and that dichotomy is where the magic of Oki’s Movie lies.

[stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]An intimate tetralogy that blurs lines between films, filmmakers and audiences. Charming and funny, it is the kind of film that is perfectly suited to festival audiences and film lovers everywhere.[/stextbox]

Oki’s Movie screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival. It will also screen at the Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) on 29 August 2011 in Sydney.

August 6, 2011
KOFFIA 2011 – Korean Film Festival in Australia: Program Launch

Australia’s premiere showcase of Korean cinema, the Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) returns for a second year, expanding its operations to Sydney and Melbourne and offering 13 feature films and 7 shorts from the emerging cinema of South Korea.

KOFFIA will see the Australian premiere of a number of high-profile and award-winning films, including the award-winning Park Chan-wook short film, Night Fishing. The films will span seven themes, including Bloody Friday, Indie Cinema, Extraordinary Ordinary Families, Masters and Students, Brothers Divided, Ride the Dream and Crime and Punishment. So what treats does KOFFIA have in store for Sydneysiders, Melburnians and pilgrims alike over the week of dizzying delights at Sydney’s Dendy Opera Quays and Melbourne’s ACMI?

Opening Night

Already making a splash at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Ryoo Seung-wan’s massive hit The Unjust is sure to make a similar impact when it makes its Sydney debut. Marking the first time since 2006’s The City of Violence that brothers Ryoo Seung-Wan and Ryoo Seung-Bum worked together on a film, the film earned Ryoo Seung-wan best Director at the Director’s Cut Awards of the Korea Film Director’s Network. The MIFF program describes The Unjust as a “a complex crime thriller” that “blends cynical social observations with dark humour, tragedy and distinctively Korean action”. Even more exciting is that Ryoo Seung-wan and Producer Kang Hye-jeong will be visiting Australia for a Q & A. Definitely snatch up tickets for your chance to see this on the big screen.

Program

There is a little bit of something for everyone in the KOFFIA 2011 program. Whether you are into Korean cinema, or just like a good film, each of these is sure to appeal to cinema lovers everywhere.

Secret Reunion (2010, Dir: Jang Hun) – Starring Song Kang-Ho, star of Thirst and The Host, and directed by Jang Hun (Rough Cut, KOFFIA 2010) brings North and South spies into conflict as Song goes head-to-head with Gang Dong-Won (Woochi) in this politically charged thriller set in metropolitan Seoul. We managed to get a look at this on the program launch night, and it is definitely in keeping with the Brothers Divided theme.

The Man From Nowhere (2010, Dir: Lee Jeong-Beom) – The #1 hit at the Korean box office for five weeks straight last year, The Man from Nowhere was one of the biggest Korean hits of 2010. Sweeping the Korean Film Awards, including Best Actor for Won Bin (Mother) and Best New Actress for Kim Se-Ron, this one is a must-see at KOFFIA 2011.

The Journals of Musan (2010, Dir: Park Jung-bum) – Another darling of the festival circuit, also fresh from MIFF, this intimate portrait of two North Korean defectors living in the outskirts of Seoul (based on director Park Jung-bum’s own friend), it won both the New Current Award and the FIPRESCI Award at the Pusan International Film festival last year.

No Blood No Tears with Q&A (2002, Dir: Ryoo Seung-Wan) – A classic from the archives, this is The Unjust director Ryoo Seung-Wan’s 2002 sophomore effort as a director. Although this has been available on DVD for some time, this is a terrific chance to see it on the big screen. It will be accompanied by a Q & A.

Bedevilled (2010, Dir: Jang Cheol-su) – It wouldn’t be a Korean film festival without soem gruesome thrills, and the tale of a remote island filled with the dregs of humanity and bloody revenge. It has been described as “the most shocking and disturbing films from Korea since the notorious Old Boy“. We’re sold.

Earth’s Women with Forum (2009, Dir: Kwon Woo-jeong) – The kind of powerful documentary that is only available at film festivals, this sounds like a fascinating piece that follows three college girlfriends who abandon city in favour of a rural existence, each with their own expectations and agendas. The Good Life this ain’t. The Sydney screening will be accompanied by a forum that will feature Richard Gray of The Reel Bits and our good friend Matt Ravier (The Festivalists) on the panel, discussing Korean film distribution in Australia.

The Show Must Go On (2006, Dir: Han Jae-rim) – The aforementioned Song Kang-ho won best actor for this at the 2007 Critic’s Choice Awards, showcasing his versatility as an actor. The film also won Best Picture and Best Actor at the 28th Blue Dragon Film Awards.

Shim’s Family (2007, Dir: Jeong Yool-Cheol) – Also known as Skeletons in the Closet, and an apt entry for the ‘Extraordinary Ordinary Families’ stream, as it describes the very nature of the extended family in contemporary Korean society.

Oki’s Movie (2010, Dir: Hong Sang-soo) – With Hong Sang-soo’s The Day He Arrives currently doing the festival circuit, his film from last year is yet to get much of screening in Australia beyond the recent MIFF showing. Centering on Oki, a college student majoring in filmmaking, this is sure to be another of Hong Sang-soo’s films that are designed to showcase his love of cinema, and ignite the same passion in the audience.

The festival will also feature Shorts on the Park at the Korean Cultural Office on Sydney’s Elizabeth Street. The shorts will include the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear winner for Best Short Film Broken Night, along with Judgement, Team Work and Audition.

The second Young Korean Filmmakers in Australia (YKFA) Awards will screen with the Cannes Award-winning Blue, along with Park Chan-wook’s Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear-winning Night Fishing. The Ride the Dream stream will also feature a schools only session of Bunt (playing in season during the Melbourne Festival). You’ll also get a chance to see the Park Chan-wook’s classic North-South film J.S.A: Joint Security Area in 35 mm, complete with a forum.

Closing Night

A Barefoot Dream plays with the Closing Ceremony, which also opens the Melbourne leg of the festival. Telling the true story of a Korean soccer coach who gave hope to underprivileged children in East Timor through the ‘beautiful game’, it is sure to provide the ‘feel good’ vibe that makes a closing night great.

Melbourne Program

Melbourne’s Opening Ceremony with Drinks will be accompanied by A Barefoot Dream. The slightly abbreviated program will still see The Man From Nowhere, Bunt, J.S.A: Joint Security Area, The Show Must Go On, Secret Reunion (with Chuseok Reception), Earth’s Women and a forum on Korean Film Downunder. Shim’s Family will accompany the Closing Ceremony of the Melbourne leg of the program.

KOFFIA 2011 runs from 24th – 29th August at Dendy Cinemas in Circular Quay, Sydney. It will then continue on 10th – 13th September at ACMI Cinemas, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square, Melbourne. Full details of the program can be found on the KOFFIA website.

You can follow more musings on the Festival on the official KOFFIA Blog, and right here on The Reel Bits. The Reel Bits is the cinema arm of DVD Bits. Richard can be found on Twitter @DVDBits. The Reel Bits is also @The_ReelBits

July 26, 2011
First Look: Korean Film Festival in Australia 2011

Back for a second year, the Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) has unveiled its poster for the 2011, along with two award winning short films announced earlier this week.

Park Chan-wook’s Paranmanjang (Night Fishing) made headlines for being shot entirely on the iPhone 4, and went on to win the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.

Not content to stop there, KOFFIA 2011 has also managed to secure the Silver Bear winner for Best Short Film Pu-Seo-Jin Bam (Broken Night) from rising star director Yang Hyo-joo.

The Reel Bits is proud to be a Festival Partner again this year, following our successful partnership (as DVD Bits) with KOFFIA 2011. In addition to covering the festival in full, Richard Gray serves as the Blog Editor on the official KOFFIA Blog. We will also be involved in a few of the special events, but more on that later.

KOFFIA 2011 will run from August 24 to 29 at the Dendy Opera Quays in Sydney, before moving to Melbourne’s ACMI from September 10 to 13.

The Reel Bits is the cinema arm of DVD Bits. Richard can be found on Twitter @DVDBits and Sarah @swardplay. The Reel Bits is also @The_ReelBits.

July 10, 2011
Castaway on the Moon

Unique is a word that barely seems adequate to describe Lee Hae-jun. One of South Korea’s emerging filmmakers, writer-director Lee Hae-Jun has already made a name for himself in his early 30s by not really conforming to any particular genre. First gaining major attention with his script about a town where everyone believes in UFOs, Au Revoir, UFO (2003), the filmmaker continually challenges outsiders’ traditional ideas of Korean cinema. His debut feature as a director, 2006’s Like a Virgin, is a comedy about a transgender teenager who winds up competing in wrestling at a national level. Although writing on actor-director Ryoo Seung-wan’s Arahan (2003) and Lim Pil-seong’s Antarctic Journal (2005) he has more recently continued his work as a director. Castaway on the Moon (김씨표류기 aka Kim’s Island), his second film as a director, continues this off-beat attitude.

Kim Seung-Keun (Jung Jae-Young) has had enough with his lot in life, and leaps from a bridge overlooking the Han River. Even this goes wrong, and he washes ashore on a small island. Despite being able to view the city lights of Seoul, he is unable to swim and is marooned for all intents and purposes. Slowly but surely he adapts to his environment, creating his own little paradise home. As Mr. Kim learns to survive on the island, he is also being watched by Kim Jung-Yeon (Jung Ryeo-Won), a recluse who has shut herself away in her room, occasionally peeking outside to take a photo of the moon. It it while doing this that she spots Mr. Kim’s ‘HELP’ signal, and the pair form an unlikely relationship across the Han.

Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Fantasia International Film Festival, Castaway on the Moon is a refreshingly original and quirky take on the romantic comedy. While completely indebted to the simple formula at the heart of all good (and more often than not bad) rom-coms, that of an impossible obstacle that separates our would-be lovers, Castaway on the Moon cleverly places itself in a world that is entirely its own. It is revelatory to find so much magic in what is essentially a two-stage setup, with only Kim’s island and the apartment of a agoraphobic hoarder to keep us occupied. Kim Byung-seo’s alternatively hyper-real bright and depressingly muted photography reflects the moods of these hapless heroes, but more than that: these are incredibly likable and well-drawn characters. We meet both characters at the lowest point in their lives, and through such an intimate lens, we gradually share that glimmer of hope they both begin to share. It is rare for such a setup to be so joyous in its telling, although the comedy ranges from the broad to the Korean-specific.

The film is a romance, but it is not necessarily one that always takes place between a man and a woman. It is trite to say it, but the characters must also learn to love themselves before they can even attempt to escape their self-made prisons. Mr. Kim, for example, slowly learns to cook for himself on the island and is captivated by a sachet of noodle mix that he finds (without noodles) on the island. One of his quests is to make his own noodles and enjoy them, something he repeatedly tries and frustratingly fails at. When his mysterious observer, only communicating with him via a series of notes and sand-messages, manages to get a takeaway place to deliver the noodles to him, he rejects them: by his own standards, he has not earned it. When the moment does come, and he accomplishes his task, the scene is one of ecstatic delight: it actually manages to elicit groans of delight from the audience.

Castaway on the Moon begins with an attempted suicide, but is ultimately a celebration of life. Through the intense study of two characters, the extreme fetishisation of food and other objects that are dear to these characters and Lee Hae-jun transforms what could be a simple rom-com with a morality tale to an existential comedy that poses universal questions for the ages. In this sense, it has more in common with a Michel Gondry film than the similarly titled Tom Hanks vehicle Cast Away, yet the film works as a simple story about a marooning for those who want to simply kick back and enjoy the little things in life. It is no surprise that Mean Girls director Mark Waters is set to remake the film for an US audience, although it is hardly necessary: Castaway on the Moon is the kind of crowd-pleasing joy-fest that should help many overcome any expectations they might have about Korean cinema.

Castaway on the Moon screened as part of KOFFIA 2010, and is reviewed again here as part of The 2011 Korean Cinema Blogathon. You can catch it on World Movies on the Foxtel/Austar network in Australia on the 24th and 25th on March, 2011. It is also available on DVD from various outlets around the world.

March 8, 2011