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Marking its 4th year, Actors’ House is a special event that offers an in-depth look into the works of actors who represent the contemporary film industry, sharing their candid stories. This year’s event draws attention with prominent figures’ participation, including Sul Kyung-gu, Park Boyoung, Hwang Jung-min, and Chun Woo-hee.

First, actor Sul Kyung-gu, known for his limitless transformations through various roles, will be featured at the Actors’ House. Continuously expanding his spectrum by navigating different themes, genres, and characters, Sul Kyung-gu has consistently garnered praise from audiences for his solid acting skills. Most recently, he crafted a new iconic character in the 2024 Netflix series The Whirlwind (2024). At the Actors’ House, Sul Kyung-gu is set to showcase his true essence as an actor.

Actor Park Boyoung will also meet with the audience in Busan. After skyrocketing to fame as a rising star in Chungmuro with the success of the film...

“The Book of Fish” is a historical period Korean drama film, set during the 1800s, released in 2021, and loosely based on two real historical figures. Summary: “The Book of Fish” is about the persecution of Catholics in Joseon and specifically about a scholar who was exiled for teaching the “evil-learning” from the Westerners. The […]

The post The Book of Fish ~ Confucianism Versus Catholicism first appeared on popgeeks.com.

Biopics of historically important national figures are a tricky business. Include little information about them and you run the risk of the wider international audience not understanding enough to be engaged in the story. Include too much information and you end up making the feature a lengthy history lesson with lesser entertainment value. Director Lee Joon-ik, a man quite well versed in the historical genre, managed to make one of the better biopics in recent time on one such figure that is widely known of in Korea but a relatively unknown figure internationally in “Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet”. After a brief stint with urban storytelling in “Sunset in My Hometown”, the director of such hit historicals as “The Throne” and “The King and the Clown” is back once again with another story of a figure who is less spoken of even in Korea.

on Amazon...

Streaming platform Paramount+ has set a release date for Korean series “Yonder” that is one of the first titles flowing from Paramount Global’s alliance with Cj Enm.

The show will premiere on April 11 in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France.

Set in 2032, “Yonder” is a science fiction-drama series about a man who receives a message from his deceased wife inviting him to a mysterious space. The space is designed for the dead to be able to live on by uploading memories of their lifetime from their brain. The show raises questions about life and death and what it means to have eternal happiness as humanity faces a world altered by advancements in science and technology.

It was directed by Lee Joon-ik who has numerous hit film credits including “The King and the Clown,” “Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet” and “The Book of Fish.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary the Helsinki Cine Aasia festival will once again present a selection of the latest films from East and South-East Asia. Along with better known film countries like Korea and Japan, the program also includes films from countries like the Philippines and Cambodia. Many of the festival’s films have been seen at international festivals and have received awards. The opening film is Anatomy of Time (2021) from Thailand, and altogether the program includes 20 films from eight different countries.

Familiar filmmakers

Japanese film director Ogigami Naoko’s newest film Riverside Mukolitta comes to Helsinki Cine Aasia in May. Ogigami became well known to the Finnish audiences with her film Kamome shokudō (2006) which was shot in a restaurant at Punavuori, Helsinki where the story was also set. Ogigami has since become known for the unique characters in her stories. Her latest visit to Finland was in 2019 during the retrospective...

Youn Yuh-jung, who won the Oscar for best supporting actress in “Minari” earlier this year, will be the subject of a special focus this year at the London Korean Film Festival. The festival will be held as an in-person event Nov. 4-19, 2021.

Youn was this week named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2021.

The festival’s special focus on her will include the European premiere of a digitally restoration of Youn’s first role in 1970’s “Woman of Fire,” by iconic filmmaker Kim Ki-young. Also presented in a new 4K restoration and being shown for the first time outside of Korea, is “Angel, Become an Evil Woman,” also directed by Kim, and originally released in 1990.

The festival includes two of Youn’s more recent collaborations with director Im Sang-soo, screening his “A Good Lawyer’s Wife” and “The Housemaid,” which played in competition in Cannes in...

The Asian Film Awards Academy (Afaa) announced today the nominees of the 15th Asian Film Awards (AFA15).

China’s “One Second”, South Korea’s “The Book of Fish”, India’s “The Disciple”, and two Japanese films, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and “Wife of a Spy” are competing for this year’s “Best Film Award.”

World renowned directors, Zhang Yimou, Lee Joon-ik, Kurosawa Kiyoshi and internationally acclaimed Hamaguchi Ryusuke, and Adilkhan Yerzhanov are in a tight race for “Best Director.”

In 2020, the 14th Asian Film Awards moved to Busan, South Korea for the first time and was held online due to Covid-19 restrictions. This year the awards will be held again in conjunction with the Busan International Film Festival on 8 October 2021 (Friday). The ceremony will commence in a hybrid form, which combines on-site attendance in Busan and online participation.

The Afaa is honoured that legendary South Korean filmmaker, Lee Chang-dong...

The Academy (Afaa) revealed the nominees for the 15th Asian Film Awards today. Thirty-six films from eight Asian regions will compete for 16 awards. China’s One Second, South Korea’s The Book of Fish, India’s The Disciple, and two Japanese films, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and Wife of a Spy, compete for this year’s “Best Film Award.”

Three Hong Kong films were nominated for this year’s Afa, including Drifting, directed by Jun Li, nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Actress. Limbo, directed by Cheang Pou-soi, was nominated for Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best sound; Adam Wong’s The Way We Keep Dancing was nominated for Best Original Music.

The Afaa is honoured that legendary South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong will be this year’s Jury President. Lee was the lifetime award recipient at the 13th Asian Film Awards.He won the “Best...

China’s “One Second,” South Korea’s “The Book of Fish,” India’s “The Disciple,” and two Japanese films, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” and “Wife of a Spy” will compete for this year’s best film prize at the Asian Film Awards

The awards again will be held again in conjunction with the Busan International Film Festival. The ceremony, on Oct. 8, 2021, will operate in a hybrid form combining on-site attendance in Busan and online participation.

In 2020, the 14th Asian Film Awards moved to Busan for the first time and was held online due to Covid-19 restrictions. In previous years, the ceremony was held in Hong Kong and Macau.

Those nominated for best director included Zhang Yimou (for “One Second”), Lee Joon-ik (for “The Book of Fish”), Hamaguchi Ryusuke (for “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy”), Kurosawa Kiyoshi (for “Wife of a Spy”) and Kazakhstan’s Adilkhan Yerzhanov (for “Yellow Cat”).

Mainland Chinese thriller “Cliff Walkers,...

Biopics of historically important national figures are a tricky business. Include little information about them and you run the risk of the wider international audience not understanding enough to be engaged in the story. Include too much information and you end up making the feature a lengthy history lesson with lesser entertainment value. Director Lee Joon-ik, a man quite well versed in the historical genre, managed to make one of the better biopics in recent time on one such figure that is widely known of in Korea but a relatively unknown figure internationally in “Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet”. After a brief stint with urban storytelling in “Sunset in My Hometown”, the director of such hit historicals as “The Throne” and “The King and the Clown” is back once again with another story of a figure who is less spoken of even in Korea.

“The Book of Fish” is...

Scams and Swindles have often found a place in feature film narratives. Kim Gok and Kim sun, for their newest feature, also incorporate the modern problem of voice phishing into their new film “On the Line”.

Synopsis

Seo-joon falls victim to a voice phishing crime group. He loses everything. Seo-joon then works to find the head office of the voice phishing group in China. There, he meets Pro Kwak, who is a planner for voice phishing.

The action film stars Byun Yo-han (“The Book of Fish”) as Seo-joon and Kim Moo-yeol as Seo-joon and Pro Kwak respectively. They are joined by Park Hee-won (“The Man from Nowhere”) and Park Myung-hoon (“Parasite”). It is scheduled for a release in September, 2021.

This year’s festival will highlight in-person programming at Film at Lincoln Center and Sva Theatre, featuring over 60 world, international, and North American premieres, with many selections also available virtually to fans of Asian cinema across the country.

On August 6, 2021, the New York Asian Film Foundation and Film at Lincoln Center will kick off the 20th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), a hybrid event with Nyaff’s largest film lineup to date. The Festival will screen over 60 films, both virtually and in person, to audiences in New York and across the country from August 6 – 22, 2021.

Nyaff’s 2021 lineup will include two world premieres, six international premieres, 29 North American premieres, eight U.S. premieres, and nine New York premieres, showcasing the most exciting action, comedy, drama, thriller, romance, horror, and art-house films from East Asia.

Following an unprecedented year in which Covid-19 and increased violence against the Asian...

The hybrid event has set two world premieres and six international premieres.

The New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) has named most of the 60-plus films it will screen for its 20th edition, a hybrid event running August 6-22.

The festival’s two world premieres will include Japanese director Yu Irie’s political satire Ninja Girl and among the six international premieres will be The Book Of Fish, a South Korean homage to black-and-white cinema by Lee Joon-ik, and Nasi Lemak 1.0, from Malaysian director Namewee.

The festival’s 29 North American premieres will include virtual screenings of Tough Out, Xu Hui-jing...

Romantic drama “Waiting For Rain” became the fourth local film in as many weeks to head the Korean box office. It held off new release U.S. movie “The Courier.”

“Rain” scored $1.05 million from 122,000 admissions over the weekend, giving a five-day total of $1.41 million. Chasing, “The Courier” delivered $756,000 from 88,000 admissions, for a five-day collection of $1.05 million.

“Rain” accounted for 26% of the national weekend box office, while “The Courier” took 19%. Together they helped the weekend total to $4.07 million, near to the top end of the recent range, and a 28% week-on-week improvement.

In an attempt to help audiences overcome their hesitation distributors are trying out a range of local titles from different genres. Korean films to have topped the chart in the last month have included historical drama “The Book of Fish”, sci-fi actioner “Seobok” and mystery thriller “Recalled.” But none managed to hold on to that position for more than one...