South Korea’s best-known short film festival returns under a new name this year. The 19th Gwanghwamun International Short Film Festival is being held at Cinecube in Jongno-gu, Seoul, from Thursday to Oct. 19. A total of 84 movies from 36 countries will be screened during the festival. Opening the event is Elvira Lind’s “The Letter Room,” about a kindhearted prison officer who is transferred to the mailroom to monitor the prisoners’ correspondence. While doing hi

Director Justin Chon says he created his new film, “Blue Bayou,” to bring attention to “unfair” policies regarding adoptees in the US. “I saw an issue that was happening in the United States that I felt was very unfair,” Chon said at an online press conference held as part of the 26th Busan International Film Festival on Tuesday. As well as directing, Chon appears in the film as protagonist Antonio LeBlanc, an ethnic Korean adoptee raised in a small town i

Korean Cultural Centre UK announced that it will hold the 16th London Korean Film Festival for two weeks from Nov. 4 to 19. The festival organizer said it will screen 35 Korean films of diverse genres including independent films, classic films, animation and shorts. Last year, the annual event was held as an online-offline hybrid festival due to the pandemic, but this year all of the films will be screened at nine local theaters in London. “Escape from Mogadishu” directed by Ryoo

BUSAN -- For French director Denis Dercourt, who is also a musician, creating his new thriller, “Vanishing,” was similar to the experience of composing music. “You have to write a story with tension and then release the tension, exactly like composing music,” Dercourt said during a press conference organized by the 26th Busan International Film Festival at the Busan Cinema Center on Friday. From 1988 to 1993, he was a viola player with the French Symphony Orchestra and

Legendary director Im Kwon-taek, 86, entered the theater in the Centum Campus of Dongseo University in Busan, where a press conference organized by the 26th Busan International Film Festival was to take place, proceeding slowly with a cane. With unsteady hands, he took out the golden-frame glasses from his jacket and began to look back on his 60 years in the Korean film industry. “I have a career of creating over 102 films or so,” he said. “If I state my career in one senten

No Time To Die (US) Opened Sept. 29 Action Directed by Cary Fukunaga James Bond (Daniel Craig) has retired from MI6 and is attempting to live a normal life in Jamaica. However, his peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), an old friend from the CIA, turns up. He asks him to go on a last mission, which involves a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. On the Line (Korea) Opened Sept. 15 Action Co-directed by Kim Sun and Kim Gok Seo-jun (Byun Yo-han) and his c

BUSAN -- Four jurors for the Busan International Film Festival’s New Current Award -- Deepa Mehta, Jang Joon-hwan, Jeong Jae-eun and Cristina Nord -- expressed high anticipation for a breakthrough film this year during a press conference held at the KNN theater in Busan on Thursday. BIFF’s New Current Award is given to the two best feature films by new Asian directors presenting their first or second feature, in the New Currents section. The two winners receive $30,000. Eleven films

BUSAN -- The 26th Busan International Film Festival held an offline opening ceremony Wednesday night at the Busan Cinema Center. The ceremony was hosted by Hallyu star Song Joong-ki and Park So-dam, who had a breakthrough year in 2019 for her role in the Academy Award-winning film “Parasite.” “It has been a while since we could meet in person,” Song said. “This year’s BIFF will present 223 films from 70 different countries.” “I am also glad that

BUSAN -- The 26th Busan International Film Festival kicked off with the world premiere of “Heaven: To the Land of Happiness" from director Im Sang-soo. The South Korean buddy drama made it to the Cannes Film Festival’s 2020 Official Selection list. Im’s movie centers on two men: No. 203, played by Choi Min-sik, and Nam-sik, played by Park Hye-il. The aging No. 203 is a longtime prisoner who only has a few months left until he is released. One day while he’s still

Kim Hyun-mo, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, answered lawmakers‘ questions about the controversy surrounding apartments near an UNESCO-listed royal tomb in Gimpo during the parliamentary inspection Tuesday. The Joseon-era royal tomb Jangneung in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, houses the parents of King Injo, the 16th ruler of Joseon, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009, along with several other Joseon royal tombs around the country. According to the CHA, it

An exhibition about the Korean alphabet titled “Hangeul: The Korean Alphabet Meets Design” is being held at the Korean Cultural Center in Paris. The exhibition, organized jointly by the National Hangeul Museum and the Korean Cultural Center in Paris, will go on until Nov. 12. The museum explained that the exhibition is held as part of its Hangeul experience project, which aims to promote the Korean language globally. Also, the exhibition is held to reflect the recent Korean lang

The 26th Busan International Film Festival has selected director Im Kwon-taek as Asian filmmaker of the year. The award is presented to the Asian filmmaker or organization that has made the most significant contributions to the advancement of the Asian film industry. The iconic South Korean director was selected in recognition of a prolific career that spans six decades and has helped promote Asian film around the world, BIFF said in announcing the decision. Through films such as “Seopye

On the Line (Korea) Opened Sept. 15 Action Co-directed by Kim Sun and Kim Gok Seo-jun (Byun Yo-han) and his colleagues at a construction site in Busan lose around 3 billion won ($2.5 million) to a massive voice-phishing ring. He decides to look for the mastermind behind it and tracks the crimes to a call center in China. At the center, Seo-jun finds out the crime ring is preparing for its next big project. Miracle: Letters to the President (Korea) Opened Sept. 15 Drama Directed by Lee Jang-h

Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism on Tuesday announced that it will hold the 18th Odaesan Mountain Culture Festival, an annual celebration to provide visitors a chance to experience Korean Buddhist culture, from Oct. 8 to 10. The festival will mainly take place in Woljeongsa, a temple on Odaesan in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. “After becoming head Buddhist monks of Woljeongsa, I have been trying to combine various cultures of Odaesan that developed over 1,400 years with modern culture t

The 26th Busan International Film Festival announced that it was selling tickets online for its opening and closing films, as well as its opening and closing ceremonies, from Tuesday at 2 p.m. through Oct. 15.　 This year’s opener is South Korean buddy drama “Heaven: To the Land of Happiness,” directed by Im Sang-soo. The closing film is “Anita,” directed by Leung Longman, a biopic about Hong Kong star Anita Mui. Tickets for the festival’s other films can be