Korean Film Festival DC 2009

Date: Sat, April 18th 2009 - Sun, May 3rd 2009
Event Tags: The Movies
Location: AFI Silver Theatre & Cultural Center

Korean Film Festival DC 2009
April 18 - May 3

Once again, AFI Silver joins with the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries to celebrate the cinema of South Korea, year-in and year-out one of the most exciting places on the planet for moviemaking. This year's lineup will once again feature a selection of favorites from past years, while the new films will include a special emphasis on contemporary women directors. The festival was organized by Tom Vick, film programmer for the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution, and Hyunjun Min of the University of Maryland. The festival is made possible by the Korean Film Council and Korea Foundation.

All films are 35mm prints and in Korean with English subtitles unless otherwise noted.

AFI Member passes will be accepted at all films in the Korean Film Festival DC 2009 at AFI Silver.

FOREVER THE MOMENT

In Person: Director Lim Soon-Rye

The true story of the 2004 Korean women's handball team, who made an inspired medal run at the Athens Olympics, resulting in a genuinely moving drama and a top-notch sports film. Lim Soon-rye's well-crafted crowd-pleaser gives equal time to both the exciting court action as well as the players' off-court challenges in balancing their family lives with their quest for Olympic glory. A major box office hit in Korea, the film won Best Picture at the 2008 Blue Dragon Awards (the Korean Oscars).

DIR/SCR Lim Soon-rye; SCR Na Hyeon; PROD Shim Jae-myung, Kim Hyeon-cheol, Kim Kyun-hee. South Korea, 2008, color, 124 min. NOT RATED

Saturday, April 18, 5:00

 

TREELESS MOUNTAIN

Six-year-old Jin and her younger sister Bin live on the edge of disaster, but they are not aware of it. One day their mother packs all their belongings. For Jin, the days of going to school are over. Mommy is gone, leaving her and Bin in a hostile home with their alcoholic Big Aunt and a piggy bank to slowly fill with tinkling coins and shining hopes. Evoked by early childhood memories, the story of a precocious journey to maturity comes into focus with exquisite simplicity in Kim So-yong's gentle masterpiece. (Note courtesy of Toronto International Film Festival)

DIR/SCR/PROD Kim So-yong; PROD Bradley Rust Gray, Ben Howe, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy. US/South Korea, 2008, color, 89 min. NOT RATED

Sunday, April 19, 5:00; Tuesday, April 21, 7:00

 

 

CRUSH AND BLUSH

In Person: Director Lee Kyoung-Mi

Lee Kyoung-mi's debut feature is a madcap comedy of vengeance and obsession. It stars Gong Hyo-jin (in a brilliant comic performance), as a middle school teacher who suffers from a condition that makes her blush bright red whenever her emotions get out of control. Unfortunately for her, this happens quite a lot. Obsessed with one of her colleagues, who just happens to be married and dating another fellow teacher on the side, she befriends her love object's daughter in order to concoct a revenge scheme that ends up spinning hilariously out of control.

DIR/SCR Lee Kyoung-mi; SCR Park Chan-wook; PROD Lee Min-soo. South Korea, 2008, color, 101 min. NOT RATED (Intended for mature audiences)

Monday, April 20, 8:00

 

 

LIKE A VIRGIN

Oh Dong-gu is going to be a model-perfect woman--and the fact that he's currently a stumbling pudgy man isn't going to stop him. To pay for his sex change surgery, the Madonna-impersonating Oh does the only farcically responsible thing he can do: he enters a wrestling competition. (Note courtesy of New York Korean Film Festival)

DIR/SCR Lee Hae-jun, Lee Hae-yeong. PROD Cha Seoung-Jae, Kim Mi-hee. South Korea, 2006, color, 116 min. NOT RATED

Wednesday, April 22, 7:00; Thursday, April 23, 9:10

 

 

NIGHT AND DAY

Sung-nam is a 40ish,married painter who goes on the lam to Paris after getting caught smoking pot with some American tourists in Seoul. His escape comes not a moment too soon. Feeling trapped in life and blocked in his art, the getaway proves welcome--only now that he's actually settled in the City of Light, what should he do? (Note courtesy of New York Film Festival)

DIR/SCR Hong Sang-soo; PROD Ellen Kim. South Korea, 2008, color, 144 min. In Korean and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, May 2, 4:00; Sunday, May 3, 6:45