CULPEPER, Virginia (AP) ― In the crisp 4-degree Celsius air of a converted bunker in rural Virginia lies the U.S.’s greatest collection of early film.Stacked in metal tins on shelves in 124 concrete vaults that stretch almost 2.5-meters high, movies that wowed audiences decades ago are meticulously stored so that one day, they may play again.The vaults at the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia, represent decades of work by copyright officials

SIBF’s third edition more accessible, features contemporary balletThe venue has been changed, so have the repertoire and programs. This year’s edition of the Seoul International Ballet Festival kicked off on Thursday, with many contemporary performances from diverse troupes added to its usual classical repertoire.During its last edition in 2010, the festival took place at Seoul Arts Center’s Opera Theater, which is considered the best and one of the most expensive dance venues in Korea. This yea

 Lee Sea-hyun presents his interpretation of Korean landscape and modern history in vivid colorsKorean artist Lee Sea-hyun, once acclaimed as the artist who can best portray his country by the famous Swiss art collector Uli Sigg, has brought new interpretation of Korean society and landscape to the Korean audience. Well-known for the red landscape painting series “Between Red,” Lee took his artistic endeavor to the next level with his new “Rainbow” series along with four sculptures for an upcomi

The producers of the SBS drama “Five Fingers” have removed T-ara’s Ham Eun-jung from the cast, and filled the main role with Jin Se-yeon of KBS2 drama “Bridal Mask” (Gaksital) on Aug. 22. An angry public is demanding official apologies to both Ham and the audience. “Jin Se-yeon took the role of pianist Hong Da-mi and successfully finished her first shoot of the drama,” said one of the associates of SBS on Aug. 24, adding that “her first appearance in the drama can be seen in episode five schedul

Actor Lee Min-ho’s wax figure will be exhibited at Madame Tussauds museum in Shanghai, China, his management agency said on Friday. Staff of Madame Tassauds from England and China visited Korea and measured Lee’s body size and discussed his figure’s outfit design as well as its pose. Lee’s wax figure will be displayed at Madame Tussauds Shanghai in April 2013. Lee is currently playing the role of Choi Young in SBS drama “Faith.”Madame Tussauds is the world’s largest and oldest wax figure museum

Singer-actor Rain, or Jung Ji-hoon, made a surprise visit to the cast meeting of his film “R2B: Return to Base.” Rain visited Wangsimni CGV, Seoul, during a meeting with the audience on Aug. 22. Rain was unable to watch or join the promotion of his own film due to the movie’s delayed release as well as his military service. However, the 30-year-old visited the theater during his break from the military, watched his film in the back and was greeted by fans when one of the cast, Kim Sung-soo, let

Korea’s Kim Ki-duk returns with ‘Pieta’ROME (AFP) ― Hollywood veterans will brush shoulders with up and coming starlets and auteurs in Venice starting on Wednesday for the film festival in which women directors are set to take center stage.Robert Redford will fly in for the first time to the world’s oldest movie festival, where Terrence Malick’s “To The Wonder” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” will be among the 18 films vying for the Golden Lion prize.Women directed a total of 21 of the 5

Singer Psy, who returned to Seoul on Saturday from his trip to the U.S. where he met American pop star Justin Beiber’s manager Scooter Braun, is to make another visit to the foreign country next month. “Nothing has been set in stone,” the singer said about his career opportunities in the U.S., upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport on Saturday. “I think there will be a lot of fun events in future.”Psy, whose title track of his latest album “Gangnam Style” has received sensational revi

Going viral brings new fans of Korean pop across the worldK-pop used to have a certain formula to be successful overseas. Korean pop artists had to be armed with youth, good looks and cool dance moves, and have plenty of TV exposure through variety shows. Not anymore. Going viral is the new rule.Not-so-young, not-so-good-looking Korean rapper and singer Psy, whose horse-riding dance is more hilarious than cool, earned instant international fame when his latest music video went viral in recent we

Five-member boy band Big Bang swept the YouTube K-pop music video scene in the first half of the year, a report by Google Korea showed.Google Korea, which operates the YouTube video-sharing site in the Korean language, said Big Bang led the popularity of K-pop, as their four music videos were the top K-pop music videos on YouTube, by international views.The No. 1 spot went to “Fantastic Baby,” the lead single from latest album “Alive” (2012), followed by “Blue.” The boy group’s two other songs “

 Amateur but powerful social media users boost global buzz over Korean WaveThe local social media market in Korea is relatively closed off from the outside world, making it difficult for non-Korean Internet or mobile users to search for anything related to K-pop in the English language.Using local social media services ― such as Cyworld, the Korean version of Facebook, or Me2day, the Korean version of Twitter ― it is almost impossible to search for English content on K-pop or hallyu.However, as

What will new season’s ‘SuperstarK,’ ‘K-Pop Star’ and ‘Star Audition’ bring?SuperstarK ― arguably South Korea’s first major music reality program ― kicked off its fourth season last week, signaling the start of a near year-long song-and-dance marathon. MBC’s “Star Audition 3” and SBS’ “K-Pop Star 2” are following close on its heels with scheduled start dates in October and November, respectively. Mnet’s “The Voice of Korea 2” is slated to run early next year. This is good news for music auditio

Pop Music“Mingus Big Band”: The Mingus Big Band, a group of musicians from New York famous for their exciting jazz ensemble performances, is coming to Korea for the first time. The group, consisting of 14 acclaimed artists, celebrates the music of the composer and bassist, Charles Mingus, who died in 1979. Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, widow of the late Mingus, the band has been touring U.S. cities and abroad, and has been nominated for a number of Grammy Awards. The band will perf