:: 2008 Korean American Film Festival ::
Date: 11.21 ~ 11.23. 2008
Four Star Movie Theatre, August Coppola Theatre in SFSU, Auditorium at AAU
Staff
Festival Advisor: Hun-Yul Lee
Festival Co-Advisor: Se-Ryong Kim
Festival Director: Kwang-Jib Kim
President: Sung-Hee Song
Vice-President: Jung-Woo Kim
Program Advisor: Pock-Rey Cho
Art Director: Min-Soo Shin
Graphic Designer: Jung-In Lee, Seung-Sub Shin
Public Relations: Hea-Jin Choi, Juliana Kim
Program : David Park, Won-Jun Yun
Management: Su-Kyung Han
Volunteer Coordinator: Young-Hyo Rho
Volunteer: Ryan Park, Seung-Ho Choo, Ji-Su Lee, Ji-Hye Kim, Jae-Hyun Ahn, Ga-Hyun Park
Sponsors
Academy of Art University
San Francisco State University
Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco
KOFIC (Korean Film Council)
The Korea Times San Francisco
KEMS (Korea Everrock Multimedia Service)
Digitrove,Inc
Films
Taxi Blues
2006 Directed by Choi, Hadongha. Documentary. 98 min
Taxi Blues is a documentary film directed by ChoiHaDongHa. documentary director ChoiHaDongHa became a Taxi dirver for a summer. 12 hours shifts,night time shift changes, just like anyother Taxi dirvers. Director Choi began to interview people of Taix customers in Seoul. This documentary will show the joy and anger togehter with sorrow and pleasure of people of Korea,and citizen of Seoul.
Milky Way Liberation Front
2007 Directed by Yoon, Seong-Ho. Comedy, Drama. 99 min
Fledgling director Young Jae (Lim Ji Gyu) is working on his first feature-length film about an aphasiac man in love with a Siamese twin, but he's hit a writing block. His producer is pushing for an arthouse film, and it seems everyone's got an opinion about the story. In the mean time, he's also screening a short film at the Pusan Film Festival, and trying to convince a famous Japanese actor to be the leading actor for his yet to be written film. Everything falls off the edge though when Young Jae's devoted girlfriend (Seo Young Ju) abruptly dumps him for his inability to communicate. Soon Young Jae develops aphasia, making it harder and harder for him to make his film.
Like A Virgin
2006 Directed by Lee, Hye-Young / Lee, Hye Joon. Comedy, Drama. 116 min
Most young boys dream of becoming a pilot, a police officer, a baseball player, or the like, but Oh Dong Gu (Ryu Deok Hwan) is a bit different. His lifetime dream is to become Madonna! Or at least a superstar like her. The problem, of course, is that he's a teenage boy, so to pay for his sex change he needs a lot of money. Lady Luck knocks at the door in the form of a ssireum (traditional Korean wrestling) contest, the answer to all his dilemmas. Just ten years ago, a subject like this would have raised huge controversies, but Lee Hae Joon and Lee Hae Young focused on comedy and quirky characters in writing and directing their debut Like a Virgin. Lee Hae Joon and Lee Hae Young won for Best New Director at the 5th Korean Film Awards, Best Screenplay at the 43rd Baeksang Awards, and Best Screenplay and Best New Director at the 27th Blue Dragon Film Awards, while Ryu Deok Hwan won the Best New Actor award at both the Daejong and Blue Dragon Film Awards.
Secret Sunshine
2007 Directed by Lee, Chang-Dong. Drama. 141 min
The New York Film Festival wrote that "Secret Sunshine is that rare movie that possesses the richness and complexity of a great novel, revealing new layers as it unfolds. A recent widow (Jeon Do-Yeon) and her young son adjust to life in a small country town after relocating from Seoul. Then, abruptly and without warning, the film shifts into thriller territory, only to end as a devastating study in human suffering (albeit one with dark comic overtones). Lee Chang-Dong navigates his switchblade reversals of comedy and despair, darkness and light with a master's grace, as does Jeon in a revelatory performance for which she won the Best Actress prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival."
The Show Must Go On
2007 Directed by Han, Jae-Rim. Noir, Action, Comedy. 112 min
Kang In Gu (Song Kang Ho) just wants the best for his family, working hard to support the household and save money for a house. Slightly harried in a dark business suit, he looks like yet another anonymous middle-aged salaryman as he sets out for work every morning from his housing estate apartment. But In Gu's line of work is bloody and messy. As a mid-ranking gang leader, he tries to balance work and family, but things aren't going too well. His wife (Park Ji Young) and rebellious teenage daughter (Kim So Eun) are not happy about his job and, at times, embarrassingly rough demeanor. Meanwhile, a dangerous power struggle is brewing in the organization, and In Gu is caught in the middle of it all. The Show Must Go On swept two of the most prestigious categories at the 2007 Blue Dragon Film Award, winning both Best Picture and Best Actor for Song Kang Ho. Song takes on his first leading role after his award-winning performance in record-breaking blockbuster The Host.
Epitaph
2007 Directed by Jung Brothers. Horror. 98 min
Epitaph opens in Kyung Sung, the capital of 1940s Japan-occupied Korea. Ahn Seng Hospital lies in the center of the city, representing the twin glories of Japanese Imperialism and western modernization. Two doctors, In Young (Kim Bo Kyung) and her husband Dong Won (Kim Tae Woo), return from their studies in Tokyo to work at the prestigious hospital. There they meet Jung Nam, an intern who feels trapped in his arranged marriage to the hospital director's daughter, and Soo In, a genius who limps on a crippled, lame leg. The city is in terror from an at-large serial murderer, and in the midst of this, a ten-year-old girl wheels into the hospital, the only survivor of a car accident that left a whole family dead. Oppressed by the tragedy of such an event and the helplessness at their own secret love affairs, the four doctors find themselves inching closer to their own mortality.
Epitaph is an illuminating vision of darkness.The film also received international recognition when it screened in the Zabaltegi-New Directors section of the 2007 San Sebastian International Film Festival. Unlike traditional horror films, which rely on instant gratification via sudden scary images and sound effects, Epitaph brings beauty and finesse to the genre with exquisite cinematography and an intricate plot.
Bunt
2007 Directed by Park, Gyu-Tae. Drama, Comedy. 96 min
A young boy named Dong-gu, who possesses an IQ of only 60, dreams of becoming a water-boy for a professional baseball team. His father will do everything his can to see to it that his son's dream can come true.
