Chance for first look at art house movies

Eight highly-anticipated films get early showings in Seoul


For art house and indie movie fans, the year 2012 looks promising.

Several award-winning films are being released this year, including the local non-fiction film “Planet of Snail,” which won the top prize at the world’s largest documentary film festival in the Netherlands, and Golden Globe nominated French romance “The Artist.”

For those who would like to check out some of the most highly anticipated films to be released this year in advance, CGV Apgujeong and Gangbyeon are the places to be Jan. 19- Feb. 1. 

A scene from French director Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” (Movie Collage)

Featuring a total of eight yet-to-be released art house and indie films from home and abroad, the screenings, officially titled “Happy New Movie,” offer a rare opportunity to see the films ahead of their official releases.

The line-up includes two local films. One is director Yi Seung-jun’s “Planet of Snail,” the winner of Best Feature-Length Documentary at last year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

An everyday portrayal of a hearing and visually impaired man and his partner, the film has been converted into a “barrier-free” version for the future official release. Accompanied by a descriptive audio feature and subtitles that narrate each and every action of the film, the special version will cater to people with hearing or visual impairments.

The other local film being featured is “Take Care of My Cat” director Jeong Jae-eun’s documentary “Talking Architect.” Capturing the last few years of late celebrated architect Chung Guyon ― whose famous projects include building six libraries for children nationwide and late president Roh Moo-hyun’s private home in his hometown Bongha Maeul in South Gyeongsang Province ― the film is a moving human documentation of the passionate and cancer-stricken artist.

A scene from Masayuki Suo’s documentary “Dancing Chaplin” (Movie Collage)

Other films include Japanese director Masayuki Suo’s unorthodox documentary about ballet, “Dancing Chaplin,” Golden Globe nominated French romance “The Artist,” Hungarian director Benedek Fliegauf’s Eva Green-starring drama “Womb,” and Taiwanese fantasy drama film “Starry Starry Night.”

Japanese director Hiroshi Shinagawa’s comedy “Slapstick Brothers,” as well as “Armadillo,” a Danish documentary about Danish soldiers in the war in Afghanistan have also been included in the line-up.

“Happy New Movie” is to also screen a total of six celebrated art house and indie films from last year. They are: Zhang Lu’s “Dooman River”; Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies”; Luca Guadagnino’s Tilda Swinton-starring film “I Am Love”; Mike Leigh’s “Another Year”; Park Jung-bum’s North Korean defector drama “The Journals of Musan”; and Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s “Certified Copy.”

Screenings at CGV Apgujeong are being held Jan. 19-Jan. 25, while the ones at CGV Gangbyeon will run Jan. 26-Feb. 1. For more information, visit www.cgv.co.kr.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)