French Film Week to showcase award-winners in Seoul, Busan

Festival brings Berlin Golden Bear winner, Cannes laureates to Korean screens French Film Week is set to return to South Korea from April 4-13, the festival organizers announced Monday. Organized by the French Embassy's cultural service alongside Megabox's arthouse cinema Artnine and the Busan Cinema Center, the event has become a fixture for French cinema enthusiasts in Korea. The fourth annual festival brings a curated selection of recent French films to Artnine in Seoul as well as the Busan C

March 11, 2025

Disney taps Suzy for 'Snow White' theme song

Former Miss A singer joins Disney's lineup of Korean collaborators in $200m remake Actor-singer Suzy has been tapped to perform the Korean version of "Waiting On A Wish," the main theme song for Disney's upcoming "Snow White" remake, Walt Disney Company Korea announced Monday. A 44-second teaser video released Monday on Disney Korea's official YouTube channel shows Suzy braving a snowstorm in a red cape as she ventures into an enchanted forest setting. The song captures Snow White's (played by R

March 10, 2025

Bong Joon-ho's 'Mickey 17' tops North American box office but falls short of expectations

Bong Joon-ho's latest film, "Mickey 17," debuted at No. 1 at the North American box office over the weekend, making history as the first film by a Korean director to debut in the top spot. However, its opening-weekend earnings fell short of industry projections, raising concerns over its ability to recoup its substantial production and marketing costs. According to Box Office Mojo, a U.S.-based online tracker of box-office revenue, on Sunday, "Mickey 17" earned $19.1 million from 3,807 theaters

March 10, 2025

Ghost on baduk board

Troubled production heads to cinemas after co-star's fall from grace The press conference for "The Match" at Seoul's CGV Yongsan Friday convened with a conspicuous absence. The film's co-lead, Yoo Ah-in, was nowhere to be found — not in the posters decorating the venue, not in the carefully edited trailer shown to reporters, not on the stage alongside director Kim Hyung-ju and the cast. The erasure wasn't unexpected. Yoo, who was sentenced to one year in prison last September for drug use, was g

March 7, 2025

Landmark Korean blockbuster 'Shiri' gets 4K remaster

1999 spy thriller that sparked Korean cinema's blockbuster era returns to theaters March 19 "Shiri," the 1999 spy thriller that marked a watershed in Korean cinema, is set to return to theaters on March 19 in a 4K remastered version, distributor CJ ENM announced Thursday. Directed by Kang Je-kyu, "Shiri" follows South Korean intelligence agents Yu Jung-won (Han Suk-kyu) and Lee Jang-gil (Song Kang-ho) as they track North Korean operatives led by commander Park Mu-young (Choi Min-sik). The film b

March 7, 2025

Jun Ji-hyun returns to film after 10 years with Yeon Sang-ho’s new movie

Ji Chang-wook joins star-studded cast of 'Gunche' Actress Jun Ji-hyun is making her long-awaited return to the big screen after a decade, starring in Yeon Sang-ho’s latest film, “Gunche,” which recently began filming. The movie, titled after a Korean word for “colony,” is expected to premiere next year, according to its distributor ShowBox, Friday. This is Jun’s first collaboration with Yeon and her first film appearance since the 2015 blockbuster "Assassination," directed by Choi Dong-hoon. “Gu

March 7, 2025

Selling sex, selling dreams: Sex workers in Korean cinema

From "Western princesses" to hostesses — trace Korea's turbulent modern history through the stories of those who bore its heaviest costs When Sean Baker took home four statuettes at this year's Oscars—a feat unmatched since Walt Disney in 1954 —it cemented the director's reputation as cinema's preeminent chronicler of the sex worker community. His film "Anora," about a Brooklyn stripper whose fairy-tale marriage to a Russian oligarch's son unravels spectacularly, won five Oscars, with four going

March 6, 2025

Rising talents get spotlight at Korean Academy of Film Arts graduation film fest

38 works by academy graduates to be screened March 7-15 in Seoul and Busan The Korean Academy of Film Arts will host its annual Graduation Film Festival March 7-9 at Megabox Seongsu in Seoul, with an additional screening day on March 15 at the Korean Film Council's headquarters in Busan, organizers announced Tuesday. Under the slogan "Like a Movie," this year's festival will present 38 films from KAFA's latest graduates, offering audiences a first glimpse at Korea's emerging cinematic talents. T

March 4, 2025

Chanel X BIFF Asian Film Academy opens applications

Film training program seeks 24 emerging Asian filmmakers for collaboration during Busan International Film Festival Applications are now open for the 2025 Chanel X BIFF Asian Film Academy, a cornerstone educational program designed to nurture Asia's next generation of cinematic talent. Running Sept. 7-26, the initiative invites aspiring filmmakers from across Asia to apply before April 4. This year's program will welcome 24 participants from across Asia who will collaborate on short films slated

March 4, 2025

'Mickey 17' dominates Korea's holiday box office, topping 1 m admissions

Director Bong Joon-ho's "Mickey 17" dominated the South Korean box office over the extended March 1 Independence Movement Day holiday, drawing over 1 million viewers nationwide, according to data released Tuesday. The computerized box-office tally from the Korean Film Council showed that the Hollywood sci-fi black comedy attracted 1.04 million moviegoers from Friday to Monday. South Koreans enjoyed a three-day break, as Monday was designated an alternative holiday for the March 1 Independence Mo

March 4, 2025

Strip club Cinderella story 'Anora' wins best picture at 97th Academy Awards

Adrien Brody wins second best actor for 'Pianist,' Mikey Madison wins best actress for 'Anora' "Anora,” a strip club Cinderella story without the fairy tale ending, was crowned best picture at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Sean Baker’s gritty, Brooklyn-set screwball farce Hollywood’s top prize. In a stubbornly fluctuating Oscar season, “Anora,” the Palme d’Or-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, emerged as the unlikely frontrunner. Baker’s tale of an erotic dancer who elopes with the

March 3, 2025

'Mickey 17' secures 68% of advance ticket sales on opening day

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's "Mickey 17" dominated advance ticket sales on the day of its premiere Friday, data showed. According to the Korean Film Council, the Hollywood sci-fi black comedy secured 319,000 reservations, capturing 68.5 percent of total bookings. Bong's latest film led by a wide margin, followed by the Korean animation "Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning" at 5 percent and "Captain America: Brave New World" at 4.8 percent. "Mickey 17" is Bong's adaption of Edward Ashton's

Feb. 28, 2025

'Squid Game' season 2 most watched show in latter half of 2024 : Netflix

Netflix's engagement report shows latest viewership trend includes watching animated films, non-English content Netflix announced Thursday that the second season of "Squid Game" dominated global viewership in the latter half of 2024, despite premiering just six days before the year ended. According to Netflix’s latest engagement report, which tracks member viewership from July to December 2024, subscribers watched over 94 billion hours of content during this period — marking a 5 percent year-ove

Feb. 27, 2025

DMZ Docs showcases Park Soo-nam's unflinching lens

Zainichi filmmaker's lifetime documenting Japanese wartime atrocities takes center stage The DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs) will mark the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule with a retrospective of Zainichi Korean filmmaker Park Soo-nam's complete works. This first-ever comprehensive showcase runs online Feb. 28-March 28 and will make all five of her documentaries freely accessible via the docuVoDA platform. A second-generation Korean Japane

Feb. 26, 2025

Yeon Sang-ho's 'Revelations' to be released on Netflix

'Train to Busan' director's latest supernatural thriller explores collision of faith, justice Director Yeon Sang-ho's new film "Revelations" will be released globally March 21 on Netflix. The supernatural thriller brings together Yeon and writer Choi Gyu-seok, who previously teamed up on "Hellbound." Drawn from the duo's 2022 webtoon of the same title, "Revelations" follows two characters pursuing truths through parallel investigations. Pastor Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol) believes he has tapped into

Feb. 25, 2025