All articles by Darcy Paquet – Page 9
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South Korean film banned from screening in home territory
Cannes Critics' Week selection Too Young To Die by South Korean director Park Jin-pyo has been effectively banned in its home country, following a decision by the local Media Ratings Board to give the film a 'restricted' rating. The rating prohibits advertising of any kind and obliges the film to ...
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Korean films keep up record pace set in first half of 2002
With the country in a buoyant mood after last week's news that Korean films leapt 7.8% to take a 46.1% share of the Seoul market in the first half of this year, the signs are promising that a string of new Korean films will also score at the local box ...
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Korean films take 46% local market share in first half of 2002
Korean films leapt 7.8% to take a 46.1% share of the Seoul market with 44 films released during the first half of 2002, according to figures published by the Korean Film Commission. The hefty 7.8% increase over the same period in 2001, bodes well for the full-year tally ending up ...
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PiFan festival unveils fantastic line-up
Gurinder Chadha's hit movie Bend It Like Beckham has been chosen as the opening film of the 6th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan), which runs from July 11-20 in South Korea. One Korea's top film events, PiFan will feature 170 films from 38 countries under the theme "Romance, ...
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Korean comedy scores during World Cup fever
Despite huge competition from the World Cup, South Korean comedy Bet On My Disco has scored triumphantly for new distributor A-Line, drawing over half a million admissions ($2.8m) in its first four days.Released on 160 prints nationwide, the film drew a robust screen average of $10,670 and looks set to ...
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Korea's Beautiful Mari wins Annecy animation festival
South Korean feature My Beautiful Girl, Mari (pictured) was awarded the Grand Prix for best animated feature at the 26th Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which drew to a close on June 8. The prize for best animated short film was awarded to Barcode, directed by Adriaan Lokman of the ...
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One Day Out wins top prize at South Korean shorts festival
Kim Sun-kyung's 16mm short One Day Out (pictured) has won the Busan Asian Short Film Festival Grand Prize, which was awarded on Sunday. A Special Jury Prize was awarded to Choi Jin-young's Too Happy To Die.Highlights of the South Korean five-day BASFF, under the auspices of festival directors, Jeon ...
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Korean Film Commission appoints president and new staff
Lee Choong-jik (pictured) has been appointed chairman of the Korean Film Commission (KOFIC), the nation's foremost promotional body. Chang Mi-hee, a film professor and former actress, was named vice chairman. A total of nine new commissioners were appointed to the organisation, seven of whom currently hold positions as film ...
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The Way Home wins Korea's top Grand Bell award
Lee Jeong-hyang's The Way Home was named best picture at South Korea's 39th annual Grand Bell (Daejong) Awards, held in Seoul on May 26.The film, about a seven year-old boy who goes to live with his grandmother in the country, has been a local audience favourite, earning over $20m since ...
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Shaolin Soccer scores in South Korea
Hong Kong director Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer has scored big in South Korea, grossing $1.2m nationwide in its first three days to secure the number two spot at the box-office behind Spider-Man. Distributed jointly by Cinema Service and Film Bank, the film's release was timed to take advantage ...
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Korea's Cinema Service plans own studio and multiplex circuit
South Korean major Cinema Service has successfully carried out a merger with its parent company, Locus Holdings, at the same time completing a major internal restructure to facilitate the construction of its own studio and its entry into the exhibition sector.Construction of a new studio complex in Paju is expected ...
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Fourth Korean film to be remade by Hollywood
Warner Bros has bought the remake rights to Lee Hyun-seung's Korean melodrama Il Mare from South Korean production company Sidus Corporation, making it the fourth film to be acquired for adaptation by a major Hollywood studio.The terms of the deal provide for an initial $500,000 plus a further 2.5% of ...
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Hollywood races to remake Korean comedies
Two Korean hit comedies from 2001, My Sassy Girl and Hi, Dharma!, have been sold to Hollywood studios for English-language remakes. Korean distributor IM Pictures revealed that DreamWorks SKG has bought remake rights to My Sassy Girl (pictured) for $750,000 plus 4% of worldwide revenues earned by the remake. ...
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Female director is Korea's youngest ever
South Korea's Ahn's World Production has begun principal photography on its first feature in three years, a romantic comedy to be shot by 25-year old female director Moh Ji-eun. Moh, a graduate of the prestigious Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), is believed to be the youngest Korean ...
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President abduction story opens South Korean fest
Berlin competition film KT, a Japanese-Korean co-production about the 1973 political abduction of current South Korean president Kim Dae Jung, will open South Korea's Jeonju International Film Festival, the event announced this week.Special retrospectives at the festival, which runs from April 26 to May 2, will highlight the work of ...
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Korea's film floatation boom yet to materialise
The phenomenally successful share floatation of Korea's CJ Entertainment earlier this year raised expectations of a film-fuelled boom reminiscent of Germany's Neuer Markt in the late 1990s.As the nation's first film-related company to issue an IPO, CJ Entertainment broke new ground. The company's share price at first doubled, with investors ...
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Columbia Tristar enters Korean film production
Columbia Tristar is to fully finance a major new Korean production directed by Cinema Service founder Kang Woo-suk. The $10m feature, titled Silmi Island, is the first instance of a Hollywood studio fully funding and taking on worldwide distribution rights for a Korean movie.The Korean-language film, which will be produced ...
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Korea's Starmax, Gaonix merger eyes Chinese market
South Korean entertainment firm Starmax has announced a merger with Gaonix, a holding company listed on Korea's KOSDAQ exchange. The merger is seen as being partly motivated by Starmax's unsuccessful bid for a listing on the exchange last year.Starmax, a longtime leader in the home video market, was originally ...
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South Korean production steps up activity
A frenzy of activity seems to have taken over South Korea's production sector. After a record 49% market share for 2001 that proved local films can make big money, more and more projects, many from the best known names in the Korean industry, are getting underway. "At the ...
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Hollywood plans remakes of Korean comedies
Two Korean hit comedies from 2001, My Sassy Girl and Hi, Dharma!, have been sold to Hollywood studios for English-language remakes. Korean distributor IM Pictures revealed that DreamWorks SKG has bought remake rights to My Sassy Girl (pictured) for $750,000 plus 4% of worldwide revenues earned by the remake. ...