Tag: KOFFIA2012

WIN: KOFFIA 2012 Brisbane Ticket Giveaway (Closed)
To celebrate the third year of the Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA), running from the 27 September to the 30 September in Brisbane, Festival Partner The Reel Bits has 2 double passes to a film of your choice* to give away!

KOFFIA will see the Australian premiere of a number of high-profile and award-winning films, including Hong Sang-soo’s In Another Country, Im Sang-soo’s The Taste of Money, Kang Hyung-Chul’s Sunny and this year’s comedy All About My Wife.

This year, The Reel Bits will also be involved as a member of the jury on the 1st KOFFIA Short Film Competition, an opportunity to showcase the developing talent from our up and coming filmmakers.

To be in the running to win tickets to any* session, all you have to do is:
1. Simply ‘Like Us’ on Facebook! If you aren’t on Facebook, you can follow us on Twitter or sign up to our Feedburner feed. (If you already subscribe to either, you don’t need to do so again). It’s not too much to ask is it?
2. Fill out the form below with the name one of the films playing at KOFFIA 2012. (Hint: The answer is in this post, and a full list of titles can be found here). Please include your name, contact email, the answer and the name of the film you would like to see! Winners will be emails and their names on the door at the event.
THIS COMPETITION IS CLOSED

Important: You must answer all the questions to be eligible. To ensure people do not have an unfair advantage by entering multiple times, only 1 entry per person will be accepted. Every entry is looked at and if duplicate/suspicious entries are found you will automatically be disqualified. This competition is only open to residents of Australia.

The competition closes MIDDAY AEST on Wednesday 26 September 2011, so make sure you get your entry in!

Privacy Note: The Reel Bits takes the privacy of its readers very seriously. Your email address will be not be used for any other purpose other than to enter the competition. Upon completion all email addresses will be deleted. If you do not wish to continue receiving the newsletter after the competition closes, you will be given the option to opt out.

*Terms & Conditions
1. Tickets can be used for any general session except for opening and closing night galas (Brisbane: War of the Arrows and Frontline).
2. Tickets are valid for KOFFIA 2012 Brisbane only. Winners will be responsible for making their own way to the venue.
3. Double passes can only be used for a single session.
4. Tickets are not refundable.
5. All sessions do not have allocated seating.
6. The Reel Bits and KOFFIA take no responsibility for any delay, loss or damage to prizes sent to winners.
7. While all attempts are made to supply prizes at the completion of a competition, no responsibility will be held by The Reel Bits to supply prizes if for unseen circumstances they are not available.
8. No responsibility will be taken for any entries that may have been lost. The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered upon.
More details on KOFFIA can be found on the official website.
September 24, 2012
KOFFIA 2012 Review: Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild

A charming piece of animation from South Korea has a broad appeal with its depiction of motherhood and respecting differences in others.

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Director: Oh Sung-yoon

Writer(s): Na Hyun, Kim Eun-jung

Runtime: 93 minutes

Starring: Moon So-ri, Yoo Seung-ho, Choi Min-shik

Festival: Korean Film Festival in Australia 2012

Country: South Korea

Rating (?): Better Than Average Bear (★★★½)

More info

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Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild was already a popular character in its native Korea before ever appearing on-screen, being based on the popular 2000 children’s book by Hwang Sun-mi. However, the fact that it had sold over 1 million copies domestically and had been translated into several languages was not a guarantee of box-office success. Indeed, despite many of the major US animation companies using small animation house in South Korea to work on their products, local animation has often struggled to find an audience within its own market, very rarely crossing one million audience members at the box-office. This changed with last year’s Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild, which became the biggest domestic animation success in Korea with an impressive 2.2 million viewers.

Leafie (voiced by the award-winning Moon So-ri) is a cage hen who dreams of visiting the yard, and one day of laying eggs and raising some hatchlings of her own. Leafie manages to escape, and soon finds herself in the big wide world, chased by a vicious one-eyed weasel. Defended by a mallard duck she dubs Wanderer, Leafie is ultimately left to care for an egg until it hatches. Despite the child being a duck, it things she is his mother, and she cares for the baby duck she calls Greenie as though it was her own. As Greenie grows up, he and all the other animals begin to resent Leafie for being so different from the others, and Greenie is left out of activities by the pond because of it. However, when a flock of wild ducks arrives, Greenie must choose between the love of his adopted mother and his destiny.

The tale of struggle behind the production of the film is almost as epic as Leafie’s own story arc. Debut director Oh Sung-yoon worked for 20 years as an animator despite the harsh swings and roundabouts of the Korean economy, and production company Myung Films spent six years in various stages of production to bring this labour of love to the screen. The care is immediately evident, with a visual style that stands apart from anything that its international competitors are offering. In stark contrast to the 3D computer generated animation of the Hollywood productions, Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild relies on a much simpler palette and animation style. The art team’s background was in painting, and as such the entire film has a beautiful watercolour look to it, mirroring the storybook quality of the source material. At other times, the skylines are stunning, belying the 3 billion won ($2.5 million) budget. The choice of voice talent is also quite clever, and aside from Moon So-ri in the lead role, the enigmatic Wanderer is the usually sinister screen presence of Choi Min-shik (Oldboy, I Saw the Devil).

The central narrative of Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild is base don the same sense of simplistic morality as most children’s tales, although it goes to some very dark places at the very beginning and in the final scenes that take a turn for the unexpected. The sometimes repetitive nature of the tale will occasionally lessen the impact for older audiences, as the familiar bonding moments of mother and son eventually give way to chase sequences and face-offs with other animals. Yet at its heart, it is a simple story of motherhood, and tolerance to diversity, and one that almost everybody can relate to. Korean animation has been pushed out of the nest, and let’s hope it is a strong flyer from now on.

Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild played at the Korean Film Festival in Australia in August/September 2012. Full disclosure: The Reel Bits is a media partner of KOFFIA, but opinions on films are unswayed by this relationship.

August 28, 2012
KOFFIA 2012 Review: Bleak Night

A sombre musing on teen suicide, told in a time-shifting narrative that aims to give a holistic view of the complexities of this far too common issue in Korea.

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Director: Yoon Sung-hyun

Writer(s): Yoon Sung-hyun

Runtime: 117 minutes

Starring: Lee Je-hoon, Seo Jun-young, Jo Sung-Ha, Park Jung-Min

Festival: Korean Film Festival in Australia 2012

Country: South Korea

Rating (?): Highly Recommended
(★★★★)

More info

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It may surprise many that South Korea has the highest rate of suicide in the thirty OECD countries, recently surpassing Japan’s notoriously high rate. Indeed, as recently as a 2010 report, it was said to be the leading cause of death for those under 40 in the country, with 13 out of every 100,000 people aged between 15 and 24 committed suicide in the cited year. This shockingly large number was stated to be attributable to the growing stresses in competitive education and in the workplace, which is why the structure of Bleak Night is so intriguing. Rather than simply taking teen suicide for granted, it positions itself as a mystery, one with more layers than may seem obvious on the surface.

High school student Gi-Tae (Lee Je-hoon) has killed himself, and his largely estranged father (Jo Sung-Ha) feels a great sense of guilt as well as confusion over his son’s death. After finding a photo of Gi-Tae with his two best friends, Dong-Yoon (Seo Jun-young) and Hee-Joon (Park Jung-Min), the father is determined to find out what might have caused his son to take the actions that he did. However, with Hee-Joon transferring to another school and Dong-Yoon having dropped out of school completely, Gi-Tae’s dad begins to suspect that things are not as they seem. Taking a non-linear narrative, Bleak Night shifts back and forth between cause and effect to reveal a once inseparable group of friends, slowly torn apart by depression, misunderstanding and ultimately hatred and violence.

The often clinical approach is reminiscent of the similarly themed Japanese film Confessions (2010), which also takes the time to go back and give each of the principal players time to ‘explain’ their motivations to the audience. In this way, the film becomes a puzzle, slowly giving individual pieces until it all finally clicks into place. Rising star Lee Je-Hoon, who also appears at this year’s KOFFIA as a morphine-addicted squad leader in big-budget war film The Front Line (2011), gives an absolutely haunting performance as the pack-leader Gi-Tae. Perpetually surrounded by a posse of hangers-on and flunky thugs, his indifferent attitude and contemptuous sneers are as frustrating as they are captivating. His initial control of all of those around him adds to the mystery of where it all went wrong for him, and watching this house of cards fall becomes all the more devastating.

Having previously only participated in the If You Were Me 5 (2010) omnibus film on human rights issues, writer/director deservedly Yoon Sung-hyun won Best New Director at both the 2011 Daejong Film Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards for what a number of people are already calling the best South Korean debut in years. While this claim may be a little premature, especially given the incredible strength of Korean film over the last decade, this is undoubtedly an important and unique examination of one of the most topic issues facing South Korean youth today.

Bleak Night played at the Korean Film Festival in Australia in August/September 2012. Full disclosure: The Reel Bits is a media partner of KOFFIA, but opinions on films are unswayed by this relationship.

August 27, 2012
KOFFIA 2012 Review: All About My Wife

An affable rom-com that takes a spin at the love triangle with the scientist, his wife the cook and her lover.

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Director: Min Kyu-Dong

Writer(s): Heo Sung-hye, Min Kyu-Dong

Runtime: 121 minutes

Starring: Lim Soo-Jung, Lee Sun-Kyun, Ryoo Seung-Ryong

Festival: Korean Film Festival in Australia 2012

Country: South Korea

Rating (?): Better Than Average Bear (★★★½)

More info

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There are few films that can claim to have knocked The Avengers off its box office pedestal, and while they may be Earth’s mightiest heroes, they couldn’t stand up to the might of a Korean romantic comedy in its home market. In May this year, All About My Wife took out the superhero film and went on to become the fourth South Korean film to pass the 4,000,000 ticket sales mark during the 2012 calendar year. The broad rom-com, oestensibly a remake of remake of the 2008 Argentinian film Un Novio para Mi Mujer (“A Boyfriend for my Wife”), has easy box-office appeal, and is bolstered by some incredibly capable leads. However, the path to true love was never destined to run smoothly.

After meeting in Nagoya, Japan during the midst of an earthquake, the seemingly timid and attractive Jung-In (Lim Soo-Jung) meets seismologist Doo-Hyun (Lee Sun-Kyun), and their mutual attraction quickly turns into a full-bloom romance. Seven years later, they have settled into comfortable domesticity as a married couple, and despite Jung-In’s good looks and passion for cooking, Doo-Hyun is miserable but is too timid to ask for a divorce. Feeling smothered by his wife, he asks for a transfer to a remote outpost, but his elation and his sudden freedom turns sour when Jung-In turns up to his new abode unannounced and resumes the pattern. In desperation, Doo-Hyun turns to his neighbour, a notorious Casanova named Sung-Ki (Ryoo Seung-Ryong), asking him to seduce Jung-In so that she might leave him on her own volition.

The set-up for this successful comedy is actually quite charming, and the first act of the film easily slips into an old-fashioned screwball comedy as Doo-Hyun repeatedly complains about his wife. While the screenplay could be criticised for overly burdening Lim Soo-Jung with relentlessly horrid character, spending much of the first act of the film being the nagging, cloying and outright hostile woman her husband makes her out to be. Of course, this section is told entirely from the perspective of Doo-Hyun, perhaps revealing more about him that he would care to admit. As is the way in these things, the tables are eventually turned as Doo-Hyun’s plans come unfurled, and he begins to look the fool.

It’s a familiar comedy of errors, perhaps only let down by the somewhat dragging middle act, when All About My Wife isn’t quite rom and it isn’t quite com, but its drama is all of the melo variety. It doesn’t take a seismologist to figure out that a love triangle will form, and its all going to end up at a pre-determined place. Yet for the most part its a pleasant journey, with Ryoo Seung-Ryong and Lee Sun-Kyun making an unlikely but likeable duo vying for the attentions of the same woman. The film manages to crack open little tidbits on each of the principal cast members, including some genuinely touching moments. The only real drawback might be the film’s length, at just over two hours, but there’s definitely enough here to make this an enjoyable festival outing.

All About My Wife played at the Korean Film Festival in Australia in August/September 2012. Full disclosure: The Reel Bits is a media partner of KOFFIA, but opinions on films are unswayed by this relationship.

August 26, 2012
KOFFIA 2012 Review: The Day He Arrives

Hong Sang-soo’s twelfth film offers more drinks, smokes and women, along with a wonderfully playful approach that blends the unexpected into reality.

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Director: Hong Sang-soo

Writer(s): Hong Sang-soo

Runtime: 79 minutes

Starring: Yoo Jun-sang, Kim Bo-kyung, Kim Sang-joong, Song Sun-mi

Festival: Korean Film Festival in Australia 2012

Country: South Korea

Rating (?): Highly Recommended (★★★★)

More info

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The characters in a Hong Sang-soo film seem to be perpetually stuck in limbo of Hong’s own self-reflective construction. The Day He Arrives may have been one of the most acclaimed Korean films of 2011, playing Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year, making its Australian debut at the 60^th Melbourne International Film Festival alongside Oki’s Movie, itself the closing film of the 67^th Venice Film Festival. The love that the industry has for Hong comes from the filmmaker’s own love of cinema, something he paints into every one of the many productions he is behind. If his characters are not outright making films, then they are surrounded by people who do.

The Day He Arrives falls into Hong’s broad category of films about filmmakers who are no longer able to make films. Former filmmaker Seong-jun (regular star Yoo Jun-sang), now an academic, arrives in Seoul to meet a friend. When his colleague is no longer able to meet at the arranged time, he begins to wander about, at first drinking with a group of students before turning up teary-eyed at the apartment of an ex-girlfriend (Kim Bo-kyung). Despite continually running into an actress he knows, he winds up with his friend at a bar called Novel, where the owner bears a striking similarity to his ex-girlfriend. This is, in fact, because she is also played by Kim Bo-kyung. Time becomes an abstract concept as the film moves forward, and despite Seong-jun’s constant movement, the amount of time he spends in Seoul seems increasingly elongated.

Hong’s films have always held a certain fascination with all of the aspects of modern life, including the broader themes of isolation amongst a group urban characters. The Day He Arrives is no different, although here the motif of repetition is used to mirror the main character’s state of mind as well. Whether it is the actress from his past repeatedly running into Seong-jun on the street, the doppelgängers who form his love interests or the mere acts of smoking, drinking and talking, Seong-jun can’t seem to escape the past he seems determined to put behind him. Then again, he has deliberated placed himself in a situation where he will continually be confronted with those totems of the past, heightening his own frustration with the situation.

It becomes unclear as to whether scenes are taking place on the same day or several days into the trip. Even Seong-jun confesses he isn’t sure how long he is staying. This ultimately brings the film’s central theme of facing the present sharply into focus for both the character and the audience. Hong’s The Day He Arrives is deceptively simple, the apparently freewheeling style belying the complexity of the human interactions on display. Blending humour and melancholy seamlessly, just as they are in reality, Hong once again proves that he is a master of human observation.

The Day He Arrives played at the Korean Film Festival in Australia in August/September 2012. Full disclosure: The Reel Bits is a media partner of KOFFIA, but opinions on films are unswayed by this relationship.

August 21, 2012
KOFFIA 2012: Korean Film Festival in Australia Announces Program
The third Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) announced its full program for 2012, with the Festival now spanning its native Sydney, Melbourne and for the first time, Brisbane.

The program features a Panorama of new titles, including Hong Sang-soo’s In Another Country and Im Sang-Soo’s The Taste of Money, direct from the Melbourne International Film Festival. Modern classics include everything from Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy to the animated The King of Pigs, as well as Kim Ki-Duk’s self-reflective documentary Arirang.

There’s also a short film competition now open, and we suspect that The Reel Bits may be involved in this somehow. Stay tuned.

Here’s the full list, with KOFFIA’s commentary on the line-up:

Panorama

Our Panorama section showcases the latest release films from Korea that have either been commercially successful or critically acclaimed. Presenting a mixture of films from prominent auteur film-makers to first time directors, this year’s Panorama is a representation of the current state of the Korean film industry.
- War of the Arrows (2011)
- Sunny (2011)
- The Frontline (2011)
- Late Blossom (2011)
- The Taste of Money (2012)
- In Another Country (2012)
- The Day He Arrives (2011)
Modern Classics

This year, the festival will continue to present a host of Modern Classics of Korean cinema, films from the recent past that have received worldwide recognition and cult followings.
- Oldboy (2003)
- Christmas in August (1998)
- Spring Summer Autumn Winter… and Spring (2003)
- Animation
- Leafie: A Hen Into the Wild (2011)
- The King of Pigs (2011)
Documentary

A strong Documentary section will compliment this years trend for diversity, highlighting a sector of Korean cinema that has come along leaps and bounds in recent years.
- Arirang (2011)
- The Reason Why I Step (2011)
K-Mystery

Known for its dark outlook and twist and turns, K-Mystery will cover both the controversial and the creative with films that feature strong lead performances.
- The Client (2011)
- Bleak Night (2010)
- Silenced (2011)
K-Comedy

In 2012 we will present a spectrum focus on popular and prominent genres of Korean Cinema. Each year we will aim to highlight a new K-Genre as we reflect a strong aspect to what Korean cinema is all about. Filled will quirky characters and bold colours, K-Comedy shows the lighter side to Korean cinema. With almost 18 million admissions in Korea between them, these 3 films prove that comedy is no laughing matter!
- All About My Wife (2012)
- Speedy Scandal (2008)
- Detective K: Secret of the Virtuous Widow (2011)
International Short Film Showcase

For the first time KOFFIA will present a selection of the best and latest short films from Korean filmmakers. With directors based both in Korea and the USA, the KOFFIA International Short Film Showcase will see 11 Australian premieres and 1 Sydney premiere take place in 2012.
- A Brand New Journey (2010)
- See You Tomorrow (2011)
- Making Noise in Silence (2011)
- ExamiNation (2011)
- An Education (2012)
- Anesthesia (2011)
- Fly By Night (2011)
- Guest (2011)
- Lost in the Mountains (2009)
- Remember O Goddess (2011)
- Ghost (2011)
- Metamorphoses (2011)
- Mother Tongue (2003)
July 19, 2012
Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) Expands to Brisbane in 2012

We’ve been working with the Korean Film Festival in Australia for several years now, so we are thrilled to share the news that KOFFIA will be expanding to three cities for its third year, including Brisbane in the 2012 tour.

KOFFIA is heading to Brisbane this September, following our Sydney and Melbourne legs, so spread the word! 3 years, 3 cities, 3 times the fun!

No word on the line-up yet, but Sydney can certainly look forward to a full calendar of Korean films in the meantime. The second season of the Korean Cultural Office’s Cinema on the Park has also launched.

With 21 feature films and 14 guest speakers in the first half of the year alone, this is going to be a big one. The season kicks off with the award-winning Poetry (2010, Lee Changdong), with instant classic I Saw The Devil (2010, Kim Jiwoon) and festival favourite The Yellow Sea (2010, Na Hongjin) sure to be seat-fillers.

Guest speakers will include Canadian Film Festival Artistic Director Matt Ravier, Russell Edwards of Variety, Julie Rigg of ABC National Radio’s Movie Time, Fantastic Asia Film Festival Director Neil Foley, The Reel Bits’ very own Editor Richard Gray and Australian artist Yvonne Boag, whose works will be featured in an upcoming exhibition at the office.

Check out the KCO line-up here.

Visit the official KOFFIA site for more details.

February 28, 2012