A Korean film and series released via streaming service Netflix -- “Time to Hunt” and season two of “Kingdom,” respectively -- have been nominated for the Baeksang Arts Awards, set to take place in June. This is the first time that Netflix releases have been nominated for the annual Baeksang Arts Awards. This year’s nominees were chosen among TV programs, films and plays presented between April 1, 2019 and April 30 this year. On Friday, the second season of &ld

Escape From Pretoria (Australia) Opened May 6 Thriller, Drama Directed by Francis Annan In 1978, white South African anti-apartheid activists Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) are incarcerated in the notorious Pretoria Central Prison for helping the African National Congress. Facing malicious brutality from the guards, the two young prisoners hatch a plot to break out. Denis Goldberg (Ian Hart), an associate of Nelson Mandela, helps them plan their escape. A Rainy

The distributor for the upcoming sci-fi blockbuster “Space Sweepers” confirmed the film would be released this summer and unveiled a clip of the film Thursday. Distributor Merry Christmas released the first trailer for the film, saying the exact date of its release had not yet been confirmed. The star-studded film, better known by the Korean title “Spaceship Victory,” stars Song Joong-ki and Kim Tae-ri. Veteran actors Yoo Hai-jin and Jin Sun-kyu are also part of the ca

As South Korea switched to an everyday form of social distancing from Wednesday, the film industry, hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic, is slowly moving to go back to normal. The number of daily moviegoers plunged to an all-time low of 15,000 on April 5 as people have been asked to stay at home to prevent further the spread of infection. The country's total COVID-19 infections surpassed 10,000 on April 3. Consequently, the monthly number of viewers hit 972,000 for April, marking the f

Experts say diversity in films must be embraced to build a stable film industry

Actors Lee Je-hoon and Choi Woo-shik teamed up for director Yoon Sung-hyun’s recently launched action thriller, “Time to Hunt.” The film takes place in a dystopian near future. The nation has turned into a slum in the aftermath of a catastrophic financial crisis, and four youths decide to flee this living hell. To escape, they knock off a casino run by mobsters. The gangsters hire an assassin to retrieve what they have lost, and from there begins the cat-and-mouse game betwe

Jeonju International Film Festival will take place next month behind closed doors, a month after its scheduled opening. A scaled-down 21st edition of Jeonju IFF will run May 28-June 6, with only a limited number of judges and filmmakers from each competition section -- international competition, Korean competition and Korean shorts -- attending the event. “As the upcoming long holiday period in May is raising the alarm for public health officials, Jeonju IFF had no choice but to think

The Daejong Film Awards, a major South Korean film festival and award event, will be held in June with a smaller audience than usual after the event was postponed in February due to the coronavirus outbreak, its organizers said Thursday. The event's organizing committee announced that this year's 56th Daejong Film Awards, known as the Grand Bell Awards in English, has been scheduled for June 3 at a hotel in Seoul. "For the safety of visitors and artists who will attend the festival, we

Of all the remarkable moments in the life of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, South Korea’s first Roman Catholic cardinal, the film “Beyond the Mountain” focuses on his childhood, as it is perhaps the most essential part of Kim’s life, according to director Choi Jong-tae. “It’s not a religious film. Cardinal Kim has always said he was ‘an ordinary person,’ and this is essentially where his greatness comes from,” Choi told The Korea Herald dur

The 2nd Pyeongchang International Peace Film Festival announced on Monday eight films nominated for its International Feature Competition. “A Distance Place” by Park Kun-young from Korea, “Dust and Ashes” by Park Hee-won from Korea, “Identifying Features” by Fernanda Valadez from Mexico, “Nafi’s Father” by Mamadou Dia from Senegal, “Negative Numbers” by Uta Beria from Georgia, “Tony Driver” by Ascanio Petrini from It

After a two-month delay brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement of a global release deal and subsequent legal wrangling, director Yoon Sung-hyun’s second feature, “Time to Hunt,” was finally released on Netflix on Thursday. “Although it is sad that I’m presenting my second piece in nine years’ time and I wish I could have returned earlier, I’m just happy that I can finally meet the audience,” Yoon said at an online press conference

Cinemas that were closed due to the spread of COVID-19 will resume operations this week, with CGV announcing Friday that it is to reopen 36 cinemas. “We decided to resume business and revitalize the movie industry and local market in order to overcome the difficult times caused by COVID-19,” said CGV. The 36 cinemas set to reopen Wednesday include the Myeongdong and Daehangno branches in Seoul as well as eight cinemas in Daegu and the Gyeongsang provinces. Additional CGV cinemas

Director Park Suk-young explains why he had to make the film

As the number of moviegoers hit a record low number not seen in decades last month, cinemas are hosting events in which they rent out the theaters for a fraction of regular rental fees. On Monday, Megabox announced an event in which individuals can rent movie theaters for private screenings. Each of the 47 Megabox branches will have a screen set aside for the event, with each theater accommodating a maximum of 15 people at a price of 100,000 won ($81) or 10 people for the boutique suite that b

17 billion won from fund earmarked to help virus-hit film industry