Martin Eden (Italy, France) Opened Oct. 29 Drama, Romance Directed by Pietro Marcello Martin Eden (Luca Marinelli), a ship worker, falls in love at first sight when he meets Helena (Jessica Cressy), an upper-class woman. Hoping to gain a place among the literary elite to be with her, he decides to become a writer and embarks on a quest to educate himself. The movie is based on a 1909 novel by American author Jack London. Tesla (US) Opened Oct. 28 Drama Directed by Michael Almereyda Inventor

Film Nov. 6, 2020

Jung Soo-jung, more widely known as Krystal of K-pop girl band f(x), plays a confident university student, Toe-il, who becomes pregnant at a young age, in her debut feature “More Than Family.” “At first, I was hesitant to play this role. But after reading the script I said I will take the role,” Jung said during a press conference at CGV Yongsan on Tuesday. “Toe-il is confident and she believes in herself. I think she is representative of women today. She is relat

Film Nov. 4, 2020

Round 2020, a music festival held by Korea and 10 ASEAN countries, on Tuesday announced additional artists who will be performing at the Dec. 6 show. Four additional Korean solo artists -- Sunwoojunga, Bol4, George and Elaine-- were announced Tuesday. Nine-member folk-pop band Ben &Ben of the Philippines, which was recently nominated for the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards, will also join the virtual festival, as well as Cambodian band SmallWorld SmallBand and Brunei singer Dinshe. This yea

Performance Nov. 3, 2020

Local OTT platform Watcha is holding an online film festival Nov. 1-25 that will showcase the works of the Korean Academy of Film Arts’ graduating class. “Eye Contact,” co-hosted by the platform and the school, will consist of 24 short films created by the KAFA’s 36th batch of graduates. The movies will include “Doong-ji,” Jo Kyoung-won’s film about a teenage girl who wants to avoid bringing friends home to work on a school project; “Help Me!&rd

Film Nov. 2, 2020

The English version of the “Baby Shark Dance” video became the most viewed video on YouTube, with more than 7.03 billion views as of 1:20 p.m. on Monday. The video overtook Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” on YouTube and is now the first children’s content ever to become the most viewed video on YouTube. Released in 2015, the song featured in the video is a remake of an American folk song. The video was recorded by Pinkfong, a content creator un

Performance Nov. 2, 2020

Highly anticipated local thriller “The Call” chose to follow the steps of crime thriller “Time to Hunt,” which skipped its theatrical release and went straight to Netflix in April. “Since many movie fans have been waiting for the release of ‘The Call,’ we considered many different options for quite a long time, and finally came up with the decision to release it on Netflix. We see that it is the best way to present our movie to a wide variety of audie

Film Nov. 1, 2020

Lee Je-hoon is returning to the big screen as a witty tomb raider in the upcoming comedy-crime “Collectors.” “Looking back at how I have been selecting my characters, I tried to choose movies with social messages or ones with a unique genre. But we all have experiences of having a truly good time after watching a movie that is not thought-provoking, don’t’ we? I do too and I’ve been wishing to do that kind of movie,” Lee said during the press conference

Film Oct. 31, 2020

Samjin Company English Class (Korea) Opened Oct. 21 Drama Directed by Lee Jong-pil 　 In 1995, three women -- Lee Ja-young (Ko Ah-sung), Jung Yoo-na (E Som) and Sim Bo-ram (Park Hye-soo) -- have been working at their company for eight years. Though they’re all good at their jobs, they lack college diplomas and are constantly passed over for promotions. Then the company announces the start of an English class, promising that employees who attain scores of 600 or higher will be offered promo

Film Oct. 30, 2020

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