South Korean movie ‘Unbowed’ to open FIFF

“Unbowed,” a South Korean movie directed by Chung Ji-young, has been selected as the opening film of the Focus on Asia, Fukuoka International Film Festival (FIFF) to be held in Fukuoka, Japan from July 6-15, movie industry sources said Tuesday.

Unbowed is a box-office hit that has drawn 3.5 million viewers since it first screened in Korea in January. Veteran actor Ahn Seong-gi, who played the title role, will attend the opening ceremony.

Unbowed is the real-life story of an altercation involving a former professor with a crossbow in 2007.

A mathematics professor at a Seoul university gets demoted a year after pointing out an error on the school‘s entrance exam. He soon loses his job, as the university won’t renew his contract.

The professor sued the school administration and asks to be reinstated, saying that he was fired unfairly. When the court upheld the school‘s decision, the professor went to the judge’s house with a crossbow.

He was given a prison sentence on the charge of attempted murder although he pleaded he did not shoot the judge.

Chung Ji-young, one of the celebrated directors, is well known for his 1992 Vietnam War drama “White War,” and made a splendid comeback after a 13-year hiatus with Unbowed, which critics said brought another socially-conscious account after the controversial drama “Silenced,” which was based on a child sex abuse case at a school for the deaf.

Following the premiere on July 6, the movie will be screened again on July 13.

(Yonhap News)