Yoo Ah-in, Park Shin-hye team up in zombie horror film ‘#Alive’

Actor Yoo Ah-in is returning to the big screen for the first time in two years, teaming up with actress Park Shin-hye in the survival thriller “#Alive.” The actors will feature as two survivors living inside an apartment during the outbreak of an unknown disease that turns the infected people into zombies. Yoo and Park will each play two very different characters who struggle to survive in their homes using whatever objects and methods they have. “Jun-woo is a YouTuber and a

May 27, 2020

Korean film industry revs up for summer season

  South Korean film industry is eyeing a return to normalcy as films whose releases were delayed due to the COVID -19 pandemic are confirming early June opening dates, in time for the start of the summer season. The distributor of thriller “Intruder,” a film starring Song Ji-hyo and Kim Mu-yeol, on Friday announced the film will open in the local theaters on June 4, after a number of postponements. Originally slated to open in March, a new release date of May 21 was announced

May 27, 2020

#SaveOurCinema rallies support for indie films

While the global box office continues to suffer from the COVID-19 pandemic, stars in Korea are taking part in the #SaveOurCinema campaign to arouse the public’s interest in indie, arthouse films. Though the entire film industry is struggling, the government’s policies aimed at supporting the industry are more focused on multiplex operators as indie, arthouse cinemas have a comparatively smaller market share. 　 To support the low-budget film scene, film figures who got their start

May 25, 2020

Movie theaters to live stream 'League of Legends' tournament

While fears of the novel coronavirus have emptied movie theaters in South Korea, esports fans are given a rare opportunity to watch a "League of Legends" (LoL) tournament on the big screen. CGV, a multiplex chain run by entertainment giant CJ Group, said Monday it will live stream the upcoming 2020 Mid-Season Cup of LoL starting Thursday at its 24 theaters across the country. The four-day tournament features four top LoL teams from South Korea and China each to be held online due t

May 25, 2020

Actor-turned-director debuts with ‘Me and Me’

An established actor of 33-year career, Jung Jin-young has gone behind the cameras for the first time to direct the film “Me and Me.” Set for release on June 18, the movie revolves around a detective named Hyeong-gu who finds everything he knew about himself had disappeared, as he was investigating a mysterious fire accident that took the lives of a married couple. Veteran actor Cho Jin-woong takes on the role of the detective. On Thursday, Jung and Cho held a press conference t

May 23, 2020

Indie film awards to open despite COVID-19 outbreak

The Wildflower Film Awards Korea will hold its annual ceremony Friday evening as the first film festival here to open since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Founded by the film critic and translator Darcy Paquet, Wildfower Film Awards recognizes the achievements of independent and low-budget films. The seventh edition of the event will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday at the House of Literature located in central Seoul. This year’s awards will hand out a total of 13 trophies, including th

May 22, 2020

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Bori (Korea) Opened May 21 Drama, Family Directed by Kim Jin-yu Among the family of four, Bori (Kim Ah-song) is the only person who does not have a hearing disability. Just 11 years old, Bori becomes the mouth and ears of her parents and younger brother. Bori often feels like an outsider in the family, observing them speaking in sign language and oblivious to the sounds she hears. Bori comes to wish she could “lose sound” to become one of them, and with an accident, Bori acts as tho

May 22, 2020

PIPFF to proceed offline next month amid COVID-19

The organizers of Pyeongchang International Peace Film Festival announced the details of this year‘s edition of the event slated for next month in an online press conference Tuesday. “We are proceeding with the festival in the hopes to heal what has been perished by COVID-19 and recover our peaceful everyday (existence),” festival director Pang Eun-jin said. The second edition of PIPFF, established in August 2019, will take place June 18-23 in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province,

May 20, 2020

Two S. Korean animated films invited to Annecy fest

Two South Korean animated films have been invited to a competition section of this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival, organizers said Wednesday. According to the 2020 lineup released by the France-based festival to be held online from June 15-30, "Beauty Water" and "The Shaman Sorceress" will compete in the Contrechamp competition category for feature films. A total of 10 animated films, including "On Gaku: Our Sound!" by Japanese director Kenji

May 20, 2020

[Herald Interview] Rapper Cheetah makes film debut with ‘Jazzy Misfits’

Ten years after her debut as a rapper, Cheetah, whose real name is Kim Eun-young, is debuting as an actress with the film “Jazzy Misfits.” While acting was an unplanned event for her, as Kim put it, she is debuting big in the lead role, teaming up with veteran actress Cho Min-soo to portray a mother-daughter duo. In “Jazzy Misfits,” Kim plays Sun-deok, who also goes by the name Blue, a jazz singer who lives and works in Itaewon. She goes on a day trip with her mother -

May 20, 2020

Jeonju film fest announces 8 films in international competition

Jeonju International Film Festival organizers announced that eight films will compete in the international competition category this year, during an online press conference streamed Monday on Naver’s V Live channel. All eight films are either first or second films by rising directors with unique visions and styles. The lineup of finalists include the first fictional feature-length title from Chinese director Gao Ming “Damp Season” and Uruguayan director Alex Piperno’s s

May 19, 2020

S. Korean directors poised to advance to Hollywood

Two talented South Korean film directors are set to make their directorial debut in Hollywood, which is seemingly opening its doors to the colleagues of Oscar-winning Bong Joon-ho. Director Jang Joon-hwan will direct the English-language remake of his 2003 science-fiction cult movie "Save the Green Planet!," with a script written by Will Tracy, according to CJ ENM. CJ ENM, which is behind the family satire "Parasite" that won four Oscar trophies, including best picture, wi

May 19, 2020

Monthly moviegoers hit record low in April

The number of moviegoers fell to a record low last month as the coronavirus scare has kept people from going to cinemas, data showed Saturday. A total of 970,000 movie tickets were sold in April, plunging 92.7 percent from 13.3 million tallied a year ago, according to data from the Korean Film Council. It is the lowest monthly box office number since KOFIC started to compile such data in 2004, and below the previous all-time low of 1.83 million set in March. Total revenue nose-dived 93.4 per

May 16, 2020

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

The Call of the Wild (US) Opened May 14 Adventure, Drama Directed by Chris Sanders Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life gets turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Alaskan Yukon in the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail-delivery dog sled team, Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the postal service closes and Buck gets into the hands of gold-hungry Hal, who constantly abus

May 15, 2020

KOFIC ensures clean cinemas, filming locations

The Korean government agency for the film industry sought to assure the public of safety inside cinemas and at filming locations, and promised measures to support the industry suffering from the prolonged spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The Korean Film Council on Wednesday said it is operating a special safety management committee of health experts and members of the film industry to draw up new guidelines to be applied at the film scene in accordance with the government’s ease

May 14, 2020

Korea Film Council vows to ensure safe environment for film industry

South Korea's film industry governing body said Wednesday it will do its best to keep local theaters and filming sites safe from exposure to the novel coronavirus. The Korean Film Council said it has set up a special safety management committee, consisting of health experts and film employees, to oversee the implementation of quarantine rules in accordance with eased social distancing in the cinematic scene. "Our goal is to help healthy people protect themselves from possible virus infec

May 13, 2020

‘Bori’ a story of special yet ordinary people around us

While most other films about disabilities focus on the disabled characters, “Bori” sheds light on the life of a hearing child in a deaf family. Such children, referred to as CODA -- children of deaf adults -- may be deemed “normal” outside the home, but with their family they find themselves to be special at times, or “abnormal” other times, just like Bori in the film. Among the family of four, Bori is the only person who does not have a hearing disability.

May 13, 2020

Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun to star in plane disaster blockbuster

A much-hyped aviation disaster film has confirmed its full cast lineup, featuring some of the biggest names in Korean cinema today. Next Entertainment World, the distributor of “Emergency Declaration,” announced the full cast of actors Tuesday and said shooting is to begin this month. The blockbuster is helmed by director Han Jae-rim of “The Show Must Go On” (2007) and “The Face Reader” (2013). Actors Song Kang-ho of this year’s top Oscar winner &ld

May 12, 2020

‘Free, Minu’ pays tribute to migrant who fought for foreign workers’ rights

Director Jee Hye-won of “Free, Minu” had not intended the film to hold the last words of Nepalese singer and activist Minod Moktan -- better known by his Korean name Minu -- when she began working on the film in 2016 with the intention to raise the issue of migrant workers in Korea. The documentary that follows Minu from 2016 to 2018 premiered at the 10th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival in 2018. While Minu was banned from reentering South Korea for 10 years after a 2009

May 12, 2020

LCK and LPL top teams to clash online later this month

The top four teams of Korean League of Legends league LCK and Chinese LoL league LPL are to clash online on May 28, according to reports, but Riot Games has yet to make an official statement regarding the event. The top four teams of LoL Championship Korea -- T1, GenG, DRX and Damwon Gaming -- and the top four teams of the LoL Pro League -- JD Gaming, Top Esports, FunPlus Phoenix and Invictus Gaming -- will determine which region is on top. The Korean teams will play in LoL Park in Jongno, cen

May 10, 2020