The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday recognized cultural figures, groups and content that helped raise awareness about gender equality in South Korean society. Artist Jung Jung-yeob was honored for her works spotlighting the lives and labor of Korean women, which had long been overlooked in the arts. She is best known for her painting “The First Supper,” a response to Leonardo da Vinci’s 1490s painting “The Last Supper.” In her painting, the m

Culture Oct. 28, 2020

Actor Gong Yoo is returning to the big screen with Park Bo-gum in “Seobok,” a film about the first human clone, The upcoming film which is set to be released in December will draw the bromance between the two main characters played by Gong Yoo and Park. “The director told us to use Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise’s relationship in ‘Rain Man’ as our reference. In the movie, Seo-bok is constantly curious, seeing the real world for the first time, and Ki-hun bec

Film Oct. 27, 2020

A selection of French films began screening on local over-the-top platform Wavve on Tuesday, in conjunction with two French film festivals. The first French film festival, running from Tuesday to Nov. 4, is being held jointly with the Institut Francais in Seoul. Nine French movies recommended by Korean film director Ryoo Seung-wan, including comedy “Redoubtable,” written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, will be presented. Ryoo, who made his directorial debut in 2000, is known

Film Oct. 27, 2020

Director of family drama “Minari,” which won top prizes at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, said US audiences have come to embrace Korean films since director Bong Joon-ho’s ”Parasite” won multiple Oscars. “It’s (‘Minari’ winning the awards is) surprising. I think it is less surprising after ‘Parasite,’” director Lee Isaac Chung said during a press conference held via Zoom on Friday as part of the Busan International Film

Film Oct. 23, 2020

Voice of Silence (Korea) Opened Oct. 15 Crime, Drama Directed by Hong Eui-jeong Tae-in (Yoo Ah-in) has the unusual job of disposing of corpses and cleaning up crime scenes for an organized crime syndicate, along with Chang-bok (Yoo Jae-myung). One day, Tae-in and Chang-bok become responsible for taking care of a girl (Moon Seung-ah) when her kidnapper, a member of a criminal organization, suddenly dies. Unhinged (US) Opened Oct. 7 Thriller, Action Directed by Derrick Borte Rachel Hunter (C

Film Oct. 23, 2020

Three experts from different fields-- D’strict CEO Lee Sung-ho, Dophiners Films CEO Shin Woo-seok and Z-lab CEO Noh Kyung-rok -- shared their thoughts Thursday about attracting audiences in the future during the 10th edition of Herald Design Forum held at Paradise City in Incheon. The annual event which celebrates the art of design and its value was conducted this year under the title of “Another 10 Years.” The CEO of D’strict, the company that created a successful pub

Arts & Design Oct. 22, 2020

Israeli designer Ron Arad said that his ideas and inspiration come from questions that begin with “what if?” “The whole thing starts with curiosity,” Ron Arad said during Herald Design Forum 2020, held virtually in Incheon on Thursday. “Everything starts with what if you do that and what if you don’t. What and ifs. I don’t like manifestos. When I was teaching at the Royal College of Art, we never used the word ‘should.’ (We never said) you s

Arts & Design Oct. 22, 2020

  The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that it would inject an additional 40 billion won ($35.2 million) into South Korea’s tourism industry in the form of loans in the next two months. “As of the end of September, tourism industry sales had dropped by 9 trillion won compared to last year,” Choi Yoon-hee, second vice minister of culture, sports and tourism, said during a press conference Wednesday. In its 2020 budget, she explained, the ministr

Travel Oct. 21, 2020

The 25th Busan International Film Festival kicked off Wednesday for a 10-day run in a year that has seen many film festivals around the world canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this year’s BIFF is a much scaled down version with all large crowd-attracting events such as the opening and closing ceremonies, outdoor greetings and open talk sessions canceled. “Many leading overseas film festivals were canceled due to COVID-19, but we decided to hold it, as we have trust i

Film Oct. 21, 2020

An exhibition titled “The Life and Works of Russian Architect Afanasy Seredin-Sabatin” opened in Seoul at the palace Deoksugung on Tuesday, marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Russia. Afanasy Ivanovich Seredin-Sabatin arrived in the port city of Incheon as a tidewaiter and stayed on in the country, working as an architect from 1890 to 1904. The exhibition, which runs through Nov. 11 in Jungmyeongjeon -- a building within the palace that Sere

Culture Oct. 20, 2020

Gyeongbokgung’s main throne hall Geunjeongjeon will be open to the public from Oct. 26 to Nov. 7. Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday that it is organizing two group tours daily from Monday to Saturday, except Tuesdays when the palace is closed. Each group will consist of 10 people. Geunjeongjeon, National Treasure No. 223, is the main throne hall of the Joseon era palace. Originally built in 1395, Gyeongbokgung’s main throne hall was destroyed by fire during the Japanes

Culture Oct. 19, 2020

With the government having eased its social distancing guidelines from Level 2 to Level 1 in a three-tier system on Oct. 12, the Royal Culture Festival successfully completed eight days of offline events from Oct. 10-18 at four palaces -- Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung -- as well as the royal shrine Jongmyo. Of the 12 performances, exhibitions and hands-on experiences at the palaces, the highlight was a musical based on a Korean folktale in which the young heroine

Culture Oct. 18, 2020

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (US) Opened Oct. 8 Comedy Directed by Richard Linklater Architect-turned-recluse Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett) lives in Seattle with her husband Elgin Branch (Billy Crudup), and their 15-year-old daughter Balakrishna (Emma Nelson). One day, Bernadette’s daughter requests a family trip to Antarctica, which she reluctantly agrees to. As Bernadette prepares for the trip with her Siri-like virtual assistant named Manjula in India, an FBI agent comes to Be

Film Oct. 16, 2020

Rhee Keun, also known as Ken Rhee, sued YouTube content creator Kim Yong-ho on Wednesday for claiming that Rhee lied about having worked at the United Nations. Kim raised suspicions about the document that Rhee, popularly known as “Lt. Lee,” posted on Instagram on Monday as proof of his stint at the UN. An earlier video by Kim had raised questioned about Rhee’s career record. Rhee sued Kim on charges of obstruction, defamation and dissemination of false information at around

Television Oct. 14, 2020

The Seoul International Pride Film Festival, a festival featuring movies telling the stories of sexual minorities, will take place Nov. 5 - 11 at CGV Myeongdong Station Cine Library in Seoul. “Due to the pandemic, many film festivals are either going online or have been canceled. However, we decided to hold the festival offline as the situation in Korea is improving,“ Head of Executive Committee Kim Jho Gwang-soo said during a press conference on Tuesday. ”Initially, we plan

Film Oct. 13, 2020