Jung Ryeo-won never really thought of becoming an actress, but fate had other ideas. Korean-Australian Ryeo-won spent her teenage years in Australia, where she graduated from Griffith University with a major in International Business. One day, while visiting Korea, she was picked by a talent agent and relatively quickly became a part of a K-pop…
Category: Film events and festivals
“I had such good help on this project. I feel incredibly blessed.” – In Conversation with Christine Ko, Director of “The Woman in the White Car”
Although there has been some visible progress over the past few years, female filmmakers still remain largely unseen either in front of the camera or behind it. While pushing through a world that is dominated by men, female filmmakers have shown that there are still countless stories to tell, stories that the opposite gender might…
17th London Korean Film Festival: “Stellar: A Magical Ride” Review
There’s something inherently comforting about the road trip movie. Always following the same narrative formula, with little room to innovate due to its constraints, a film within this subgenre is always about a journey both literal and metaphorical – the lead character experiencing emotional growth, whilst ticking off all the expected beats you’d expect on…
17th London Korean Film Festival: “Alienoid” Review
Some films require patience to watch and some require energy. Writer-director Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid belongs to the latter camp for its hyperactivity. An ambitious mashup of multiple genres – sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, action, thriller, you name it – Choi’s sixth feature is, in a sense, a culmination of his filmography and much more. Alienoid does…
17th London Korean Film Festival: In Conversation with Choi Dong-hoon, Director of “Alienoid”
In 2015, during the BFI London Film Festival, I had my first conversation with South Korean filmmaker Choi Dong-hoon as he promoted his espionage action film Assassination. Several years later, he finished the script for Alienoid, a sci-fi fantasy action film. Starring a top-notch assemble of actors, including Kim Tae-ri, Kim Woo-bin, Ryu Jun-yeol, Lee…
7th London East Asia Film Festival: In Conversation with Kim Se-in, Director of “The Apartment with Two Women”
Kim Se-in, a South Korean filmmaker, began her journey in the film industry as a screenplay writer and editor. She directed a few shorts, including Hamster (2016), Playing with Fire (2018), and Container (2018). Kim’s feature debut, The Apartment with Two Women, received its world premiere at last year’s Busan International Film Festival and had…
66th BFI London Film Festival: “The Woman in the White Car” Review
In a small Korean town, a police officer, Kim Hyun-ju (Lee Jeong-eun: Parasite, Hommage), alongside her partner, are called to a hospital to check on two sisters with one being severely injured and unconscious. We quickly learn that one of the siblings is called Do-kyung (Jung Ryeowon: Castaway on the Moon, Wok of Love, Gate),…
66th BFI London Film Festival: “Decision to Leave” Review
It may not seem like it at first glance, but Park Chan-wook’s films are those of a distinctly romantic disposition. His narratives typically explore the tension that arises when erotic and emotional idealism meets cold, hard reality; in his films, the only happy romances can be found in either the dispassionate confines of a mental…
Fragments Festival: In Conversation with Kim Bartley, Director of “Pure Grit”
What does it mean to explore non-fiction narratives through film? Accompanying other people with a camera during their everyday life is always difficult, but at the same time, it is an extraordinary journey for all parties involved, including the director, the film crew, and also the subject of the film. While documentaries capture meaningful moments,…
Fragments Festival: In Conversation with Sharmaine Weed, Protagonist of “Pure Grit”
Throughout the decades, the prominence of Native American men and women has declined. Undoubtedly, this is because of the horrific suffering they have endured due to colonization, as well as the widespread struggles on reservations nowadays. While foreign colonizers tried hard to strip away the culture of Native Americans, the people fought hard to preserve…
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