The Korea Herald

Film festival opens in North Korea

Sept 20, 2012

PYONGYANG (AP) ― An international film festival opened Thursday in what may seem the unlikeliest of places: North Korea. Held every two years, the Pyongyang International Film Festival offers North Koreans their only chance to see a wide array of foreign films on the big screen ― from Britain, Germany and elsewhere (but not America). And it’s the only time foreigners are allowed into North Korea...
Hollywood stars to descend on San Sebastian film festival

Sept 20, 2012

Strong presence of U.S.-made films to bring a touch of glamour to festival of low-budget films MADRID (AFP) ― A galaxy of stars including John Travolta and Ewan McGregor will flock to the San Sebastian film festival which gets under way Friday in the northern Spanish coastal city. “This year is a bit special because it is the festival’s 60th anniversary. For this reason we have made a strong be...
Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta sees strong overseas sales

Sept 20, 2012

South Korean director Kim Ki-duk’s new film “Pieta” has achieved many significant sales deals since its Golden Lion win at the Venice International Film Festival early this month, according to the film‘s sales agency. Pieta’s sales agency Finecut said on Thursday that it signed four deals to distribute the movie to foreign countries after receiving multiple bids for the rights during the recentl...
Korean films to be screened in New York art museum

Sept 18, 2012

A Korean film festival will open in New York this week to offer insight into contemporary Korean cinema to movie goers in the city, the event’s local sponsors said Tuesday. Twelve select films ranging from works by Korean film pioneer, late director Shin Sang-ok to the latest film by the world-acclaimed director Hong Sang-soo will be screened for the film festival at the Modern Art Museum (MoMA)...
Filipino exchange student takes film on poverty to Pyongyang

Sept 18, 2012

With a tuft of bushy blond bangs, his slight frame and beaming smile held up designer jeans and a trendy school bag. But Nash Ang’s boyishness belied a cinematic penchant for revealing the grueling poverty in the Philippines. In his hour-long documentary, “Live To Dive” (Lusong), Ang explores how Totoy, 11, and Pirot, 10, eke out a living for their families by diving for scraps of garbage like d...
Keira Knightley: ‘I had no life’ besides acting

Sept 17, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― Keira Knightley seems to be in a good place personally and professionally. She’s engaged to marry musician James Righton and stars in the film adaptation of “Anna Karenina’’ alongside Jude Law. The 27-year-old tells Vogue magazine’s October issue, there was a time when she wasn’t in such a good place. She recalls a time when the fame from such roles as “Bend it like Beckham’’ an...
Neeson returns with ‘Taken 2’

Sept 17, 2012

Irish actor says he likes ‘Oldboy’ and ‘The Chaser’ during his visit to Korea Actor Liam Neeson, famous for his role as the vengeful father in Luc Besson’s 2008 high-grossing film “Taken,” said the thriller has made him an “action figure” in Hollywood, during his first visit to Seoul on Monday. The Irish actor arrived in Korea on Saturday to promote the 2008 movie’s sequel, “Taken 2.” “I seem t...
N.K. movie to be screened at Busan festival

Sept 16, 2012

A joint North Korean-European movie will be shown in an international movie festival to be held in South Korea next month, the Unification Ministry said Friday. The ministry said it has approved the screening of “Comrade Kim Goes Flying,” a film jointly directed by North Korean, English and Belgian directors, during the Busan International Film Festival, which will kick off on Oct. 4 for a 10-da...
Box Office

Sept 14, 2012

Masquerade (Korea) Opened Sept. 13 Drama. Directed by Choo Chang-min. In the midst of a gruesome fight over kingship in the Joseon period, fear and wrath drives King Gwanghae (Lee Byung-hun) into a frenzy. He orders his councilor, Heo Gyun (Ryoo Seung-ryong), to find him a double to avoid the constant threat of assassination. Heo Gyun finds Ha-sun (Lee Byung-hun) in a crowd of drunkards at a st...
Starlets and causes come and go, but Susan Sarandon endures

Sept 14, 2012

Susan Sarandon has always made it look so easy. Generations of actresses launch careers and then flame out. Sarandon, 65, “transitioned” ― from ingenue to leading lady to strong female lead to “cougar” to stellar turns as moms. As others come and go, Sarandon reinvents herself and endures. “It’s just managing to get the part you need when you need it,” she says. “I just survived. I don’t unders...
‘Pieta’ headed to Academy Awards

Sept 13, 2012

Director Kim Ki-duk’s Venice International Film Festival prize-winning “Pieta” has been selected as Korea’s entry to the 85th Academy Award’s foreign film section, the Korean Film Council announced on Thursday. A total of five films, including “Taste of Money” by director Im Sang-soo, “In Another Country” by director Hong Sang-soo, “Nameless Gangster” by Yun Jong-bin and “Masquerade” by Choo Cha...
Ex-007 Roger Moore 'beaten up by first two wives'

Sept 13, 2012

Former James Bond actor Roger Moore has claimed he was a victim of domestic violence during his first two marriages, it emerged on Wednesday. The 84-year-old British star, who first played agent 007 in 1973's "Live and Let Die", said his former wives Doorn Van Steyn and Dorothy Squires subjected him to a string of attacks in both of their doomed marriages. Van Steyn, an ice skater who married M...
DMZ Docs look at peace, communication

Sept 12, 2012

The 4th Korean International Documentary Film Festival to showcase 115 nonfiction films from 36 countries The annual Korean International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs) kicks off this month, featuring a total of 115 nonfiction films from 36 countries. Celebrating the themes of peace, life and communication, the festival always takes place in Paju, a South Korean border city in Gyeonggi Pr...
Director Cameron’s company files for bankruptcy

Sept 12, 2012

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (AP) ― The digital production company founded by “Titanic’’ director James Cameron has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada and reached a deal to sell its operating business to a private investment firm for $15 million. Digital Domain Media Group Inc., best known for its work on “Titanic,’’ filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware,...
Director Kim unchanged by Venice triumph

Sept 12, 2012

South Korean film director Kim Ki-Duk said Tuesday he would stick to his maverick ways after winning the coveted Golden Lion prize at the Venice film festival for his anti-capitalist movie “Pieta.” “Pieta mirrors my philosophy ... I will continue to produce interesting and meaningful movies like this film,” Kim said. The eccentric director, long-treated as an outcast at home, won the top award ...