Netflix’s ‘Time to Hunt,’ ‘Kingdom’ nominated for Baeksang Arts Awards

A Korean film and series released via streaming service Netflix -- “Time to Hunt” and season two of “Kingdom,” respectively -- have been nominated for the Baeksang Arts Awards, set to take place in June. This is the first time that Netflix releases have been nominated for the annual Baeksang Arts Awards. This year’s nominees were chosen among TV programs, films and plays presented between April 1, 2019 and April 30 this year. On Friday, the second season of &ld

May 10, 2020

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Escape From Pretoria (Australia) Opened May 6 Thriller, Drama Directed by Francis Annan In 1978, white South African anti-apartheid activists Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) are incarcerated in the notorious Pretoria Central Prison for helping the African National Congress. Facing malicious brutality from the guards, the two young prisoners hatch a plot to break out. Denis Goldberg (Ian Hart), an associate of Nelson Mandela, helps them plan their escape. A Rainy

May 8, 2020

‘Space Sweepers’ starring Song Joong-ki slated for summer release

The distributor for the upcoming sci-fi blockbuster “Space Sweepers” confirmed the film would be released this summer and unveiled a clip of the film Thursday. Distributor Merry Christmas released the first trailer for the film, saying the exact date of its release had not yet been confirmed. The star-studded film, better known by the Korean title “Spaceship Victory,” stars Song Joong-ki and Kim Tae-ri. Veteran actors Yoo Hai-jin and Jin Sun-kyu are also part of the ca

May 7, 2020

Film industry likely to go back to normal under relaxed social distancing

As South Korea switched to an everyday form of social distancing from Wednesday, the film industry, hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic, is slowly moving to go back to normal. The number of daily moviegoers plunged to an all-time low of 15,000 on April 5 as people have been asked to stay at home to prevent further the spread of infection. The country's total COVID-19 infections surpassed 10,000 on April 3. Consequently, the monthly number of viewers hit 972,000 for April, marking the f

May 6, 2020

[Feature] ‘Crisis will come again, and more indie theaters could prevent the worst’

More than three months into the coronavirus crisis, the South Korean film scene continues to struggle amid what cineastes describe as an unprecedented time of strife in more than 100 years of Korean cinema. The number of cinemagoers recorded new lows every month since January, and April saw the figure fall below 1 million for the first time since the Korean Film Council started compiling the data in 2004. Multiplexes, which dominate the market, temporarily shut down some screens, and as new

May 5, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Four musketeers’ of ‘Time to Hunt’

Actors Lee Je-hoon and Choi Woo-shik teamed up for director Yoon Sung-hyun’s recently launched action thriller, “Time to Hunt.” The film takes place in a dystopian near future. The nation has turned into a slum in the aftermath of a catastrophic financial crisis, and four youths decide to flee this living hell. To escape, they knock off a casino run by mobsters. The gangsters hire an assassin to retrieve what they have lost, and from there begins the cat-and-mouse game betwe

May 3, 2020

Jeonju film fest to open in late May without audience

Jeonju International Film Festival will take place next month behind closed doors, a month after its scheduled opening. A scaled-down 21st edition of Jeonju IFF will run May 28-June 6, with only a limited number of judges and filmmakers from each competition section -- international competition, Korean competition and Korean shorts -- attending the event. “As the upcoming long holiday period in May is raising the alarm for public health officials, Jeonju IFF had no choice but to think

May 2, 2020

Key film event Daejong Awards rescheduled for June with smaller audience

The Daejong Film Awards, a major South Korean film festival and award event, will be held in June with a smaller audience than usual after the event was postponed in February due to the coronavirus outbreak, its organizers said Thursday. The event's organizing committee announced that this year's 56th Daejong Film Awards, known as the Grand Bell Awards in English, has been scheduled for June 3 at a hotel in Seoul. "For the safety of visitors and artists who will attend the festival, we

April 30, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Beyond the Mountain’ looks at childhood of late Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan

Of all the remarkable moments in the life of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, South Korea’s first Roman Catholic cardinal, the film “Beyond the Mountain” focuses on his childhood, as it is perhaps the most essential part of Kim’s life, according to director Choi Jong-tae. “It’s not a religious film. Cardinal Kim has always said he was ‘an ordinary person,’ and this is essentially where his greatness comes from,” Choi told The Korea Herald dur

April 28, 2020

PIPFF nominates eight films for international competition

The 2nd Pyeongchang International Peace Film Festival announced on Monday eight films nominated for its International Feature Competition. “A Distance Place” by Park Kun-young from Korea, “Dust and Ashes” by Park Hee-won from Korea, “Identifying Features” by Fernanda Valadez from Mexico, “Nafi’s Father” by Mamadou Dia from Senegal, “Negative Numbers” by Uta Beria from Georgia, “Tony Driver” by Ascanio Petrini from It

April 28, 2020

[Herald Interview] Director challenges himself with action thriller ‘Time to Hunt’

After a two-month delay brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement of a global release deal and subsequent legal wrangling, director Yoon Sung-hyun’s second feature, “Time to Hunt,” was finally released on Netflix on Thursday. “Although it is sad that I’m presenting my second piece in nine years’ time and I wish I could have returned earlier, I’m just happy that I can finally meet the audience,” Yoon said at an online press conference

April 27, 2020

Major multiplex operators to reopen cinemas

Cinemas that were closed due to the spread of COVID-19 will resume operations this week, with CGV announcing Friday that it is to reopen 36 cinemas. “We decided to resume business and revitalize the movie industry and local market in order to overcome the difficult times caused by COVID-19,” said CGV. The 36 cinemas set to reopen Wednesday include the Myeongdong and Daehangno branches in Seoul as well as eight cinemas in Daegu and the Gyeongsang provinces. Additional CGV cinemas

April 26, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘The Hill of Wind,’ personal yet inclusive story

What is left to a middle-aged married woman in modern Korean society when her various titles -- mother, wife and a daughter-in-law -- are removed? Perhaps this is where the film “The Hill of Wind” starts from, director Park Suk-young told The Korea Herald during an interview held Tuesday in Seoul. “The Hill of Wind” tells the story of two women, a mother and her daughter, but it’s not a family film. The film starts with Yeong-bun, played by actress Jung Eun-kyung

April 22, 2020

Cinemas rent out theaters for events

As the number of moviegoers hit a record low number not seen in decades last month, cinemas are hosting events in which they rent out the theaters for a fraction of regular rental fees. On Monday, Megabox announced an event in which individuals can rent movie theaters for private screenings. Each of the 47 Megabox branches will have a screen set aside for the event, with each theater accommodating a maximum of 15 people at a price of 100,000 won ($81) or 10 people for the boutique suite that b

April 22, 2020

Cinemas' movie development fund contributions cut by 90%

The sums that cinemas contribute every month to a fund to support local film will be reduced by 90 percent as part of a plan to assist theaters hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday. The number of moviegoers plunged to 1.83 million in March, the lowest for the month since the Korean Film Council began compiling box office data in 2004. Currently, movie theaters are required to contribute 3 percent of their ticket sales to the Korean Film

April 21, 2020

Moviegoers hit all-time low in March

As the monthslong coronavirus pandemic has emptied South Korean theaters, the number of moviegoers in the country dropped to an all-time low in March, data showed Monday. A total of 1.83 million people went to the cinema last month, plunging 87.5 percent from 14.7 million tallied a year ago, according to data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). It is the lowest monthly box office number since KOFIC started to compile such data in 2004. The total revenue nose-dived 88 percent on-year to 15.

April 20, 2020

‘Time to Hunt’ to be released worldwide Thursday on Netflix

Thriller “Time to Hunt” will finally be released on Netflix on Thursday, following a contentious two-week delay. “Time to Hunt” will be released simultaneously in some 190 countries at 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, Netflix said Monday. The streaming company was originally slated to release the film on April 10. However, the release was postponed as a court banned the film’s overseas distribution after the film’s overseas distributor Contents Panda, which w

April 20, 2020

“Time to Hunt” to be released on Netflix after distributing companies reach agreement

After over a monthlong delay, the movie “Time to Hunt” will be available on Netflix with the streaming platform announcing that a new release date will soon be made available. Netflix had postponed the premiere of “Time to Hunt” scheduled for April 10, after a court ruling prohibited the release of the movie outside Korea following a dispute between local and overseas film distributors. Kwon Ji-won, the CEO of Little Big Pictures, the film’s local distributor, re

April 17, 2020

Marking 6th anniversary of Sewol ferry disaster with films inspired by the tragedy

Six years after the Sewol ferry sank to the dark bottom of the sea on April 16, 2014, many questions still linger and the truth remains undisclosed. The incident, which took the lives of more than 300 people, most of them high school students, is remembered as a disaster caused by the many shortcomings of our society. Movies and documentaries inspired by the tragedy or that delve into it remind us that the case is still ongoing.　 The latest such film is “Ghost Ship” by director Ki

April 15, 2020

Will Marvel heroes save Korean cinemas?

With the ever-dropping number of moviegoers, three major multiplexes are holding screenings of Marvel hero movies starting Wednesday. Megabox on Monday said it will screen six of the most popular films from the Marvel series from Wednesday to April 29. “Logan” and “Deadpool” will start screening Wednesday, with “Avengers” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” to be screened starting April 23. “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: End

April 13, 2020