Museum hosts film festival celebrating diversity, multiculturalism

The Seoul Museum of History is hosting the 2017 International Various Film Festival, screening a wide range of movies celebrating diversity and multiculturalism through the end of the year.

An array of shorts, features and documentaries from around the globe will be screened at the museum’s first floor theater on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m.

From July 25-Aug. 31, the festival celebrates the analog sentiment, screening movies that have been shot on 35-millimeter film. This section will feature works such as “Goodbye South, Goodbye” (1996), a crime drama about suicide, failed scams and violent retaliation by Taiwanese director Hou Hsia-Hsien; “A Geisha” (1953), depicting a geisha who yearns for the right to receive men by Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi Kenji; and Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story” (1953), which centers on a provincial Japanese family.

From Sept. 16- Oct. 14, the festival will screen seven documentaries from around the world including Italy’s “Hand Gestures” (2015), a 2015 film by Francesco Clerici on how the ancient art of casting bronze sculptures is passed down from master to apprentice in Italy.

The museum has partnered with the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, jointly presented by Gyeonggi Province, Paju and Goyang, to screen the documentaries.

The museum also seeks to celebrate world cinema. Spotlighted will be movies including Azerbaijan’s “Buta” (2011) and “Hostage” (2005) and films from Uruguay, Bulgaria, Kenya, Iran and South Africa, in collaboration with the embassies of respective countries.

For additional information, visit www.museum.seoul.kr.

By Rumy Doo (doo@heraldcorp.com)