The Korea Herald

Zombies storm Havana cinema festival

FilmDec 11, 2011

HAVANA (AP) ― The hottest ticket in Havana is a gory, campy zombie flick with a wicked sense of humor about Cuba’s obsessive relations with the United States, one that revels in islanders’ knack for making the best of things even when everything around you ― buildings, streets, human limbs ― is falling to pieces.Audiences thronged movie houses this week to catch screenings of “Juan of the Dead,’’ or “Juan de los Muertos’’ in the original Spanish, and organizers had to hastily add extra midnight
Highlight

TheaterDec 9, 2011

Classical Music“Seoul String Quartet”: This group, which led the Korean chamber music performances in the 1950s and ‘60s, will hold a concert on Dec. 18 to celebrate its comeback. The new members, star violinists Wayne Lin and Shin A-rah, violist Huang Hung-wei and cellist Park Sang-min, will play Mozart’s String Quartet No. 21, Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 3. Lin, a former member of Juliard Orhestra and the Yale Philharmonic, currently leads the first fi
Box Office

FilmDec 9, 2011

My Barefoot Friend (Korea) Opening Dec. 15Documentary. Directed by Lee Seong-gyou. Shalim is one of the 10,000 rickshaw workers who taxi people around barefoot in Calcutta, India. The 50-year-old man’s dream is to buy a motorized rickshaw and make more money to support his family better. He works alone in Calcutta, through the merciless traffic in the overcrowded streets, while the rest of his family live in the countryside with the money Shalim sends every month. When his wife becomes severely
eye like

FilmDec 9, 2011

Diva leaves fans with last treasureAmy Winehouse“Lioness: Hidden Treasures”(Universal Music)This album, filled with 12 unreleased songs, will take fans through a journey of joy and sadness. Listening to the diva’s trademark sultry and smoky voice, one will be constantly reminded that she is no longer among us. Serving as Winehouse’s follow-up to 2007’s “Back to Black,” “Lioness: Hidden Treasures” shows that the multi-Grammy-winning musician began to lose some of her vitality and power toward the
Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo make noise for ‘The Artist’

FilmDec 9, 2011

There’s a very good chance that Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, two actors little-known outside of France, will be nominated for Academy Awards next year. Not that such an honor holds much immediate meaning for the stars of “The Artist,” the silent black-and-white film that has become a critical darling on the festival circuit since having its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.“In America, there’s a big audience for the Oscars?” Bejo, 35, inquired, genuinely puzzled. During a recent t
Tom Cruise undisputed star at opening of Dubai film festival

FilmDec 9, 2011

DUBAI (AFP) ― Actor Tom Cruise was the undisputed star on the red carpet at the opening of the Dubai Film Festival, sharing the limelight with Bollywood stars and the widow of late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.Cruise attended the screening of his latest release, “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” which was filmed in Dubai and includes a dramatic scene where the U.S. actor climbs the sides of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, which stands 828 meters high.Dozens of adoring fans
Korean art dealer tapped to serve at H.K. arts council

TheaterDec 8, 2011

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― A South Korean businesswoman has been appointed to serve at a Hong Kong government-related body aimed at developing the arts, officials said Wednesday, marking the first time a South Korean national has held such a position.Moon Eun-myung, founder of the Hong Kong-based Moon Gallery started her term as an examiner for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council on Dec. 1, according to the council. Her term lasts until April 30, 2014.The ADC is a statutory body set up by the
Don Giovanni meets austere Italy at La Scala opening

MusicDec 8, 2011
Craft fair looks for the extraordinary in the ordinary

TheaterDec 8, 2011

The nation’s biggest craft fair kicks off its four-day run on Dec. 15 at COEX Hall C in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by Korea Craft & Design Foundation, the annual “Craft Trend Fair” has, over the years, become an important event for craft-lovers. This is the sixth year of the fair which attracts about 600 artisans and more than 30,000 visitors each year. This year’s theme is “Extraordinary.” “The Craft Trend Fair will shed n
A burden carried barefoot

FilmDec 8, 2011

Korean-directed documentary ‘My Barefoot Friend’ offers captivating human dramaThey will soon be gone from the vibrant streets of Calcutta. The rickshaw operators, who haul customers and cargo across the city using their bare feet, work about 15 hours a day in merciless traffic, overwhelming heat and even torrential rain. But their profession could be extinct in just two or three years, as the Calcutta government has been enforcing a ban on rickshaws on its streets since 2006.Following the relea
Fonda, stars of ‘The Help’ honor Hollywood women

FilmDec 8, 2011

BEVERLY HILLS (AP) ― For the 20th consecutive year, Hollywood’s most powerful women came together to break bread and celebrate their achievements in entertainment.Jane Fonda and the late filmmaker Laura Ziskin were honored at the breakfast ceremony Wednesday at the Beverly Hills Hotel, held by the Hollywood Reporter in concert with its annual Power 100 ranking of the entertainment industry’s most powerful women.“This list matters,’’ said Janice Min, the magazine’s editorial director. “Acknowledg
Kazak, Philippines teams bag grand prize at K-pop festival

MusicDec 8, 2011

21 teams from 16 countries compete in ChangwonCHANGWON, South Gyeongsang ― A petite singer from the Philippines and a duo from Kazakhstan won the grand prizes at the 2011 K-pop World Festival Wednesday, where 10 teams from all over the world performed songs by their favorite Korean idols. Karla Carreon from the Philippines and JAM from Kazakhstan bested teams that had flown to the southeastern city of Changwon from Peru, Vietnam, Japan, China, Indonesia, Britain, Russia, the United States and mo
Kazak, Philippines teams bag grand prize at K-pop festival

MusicDec 8, 2011

CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang ― A petite singer from the Philippines and a duo from Kazakhstan won the grand prizes at the 2011 K-pop World Festival Wednesday, where 10 teams from all over the world performed songs by their favorite Korean idols. Karla Carreon from the Philippines and JAM from Kazakhst
KF to hold concert for 20th anniversary

MusicDec 7, 2011

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Korea Foundation is holding a special winter concert titled “Friends of Korea Foundation.”The concert, to be held at Seoul Arts Center’s concert hall on Dec. 12, will feature some of the nation’s top classical musicians, including pianist Shin Soo-jung, cellist Yang Sung-won, ensemble MIK and violinist Kwon Hyuk-joo. The Korean Chamber Orchestra, which received long-time support from the foundation, will perform Mendelssohn’s Symphony for Strings N
Plagiarism or parody?

TheaterDec 7, 2011

Critics argue that it is up to artists’ conscience South Korean artist Kwon Kyung-yup was recently shocked to find out that works very similar to hers were on sale in Singapore. A foreigner who came across an Indonesian artist’s solo exhibition in August at Art Front Gallery in Singapore sent an e-mail to Kwon to fill her in on the news. In the show, Indonesian artist Dani King Heriyanto’s 2011 painting “Bandage” featured a girl wearing a hoodie and a bandage over her eye just like Kwon’s 2009 w