JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Danish director Isabella Eklof pulls no punches with her feature film debut “Holiday,” which has been a darling of the film festival circuit, even if it is not so likely to see wide, international theatrical releases. She is determined to bring the female gaze to film, and holds a steady, anthropological eye on her subjects.“I think people like a challenging first movie, one that’s different and interesting,” Eklof told The Korea Herald on May 5, after screening

Up the long escalators from the depths of Noksapyeong Station, along the barbed wire-topped walls of the aged US Yongsan Garrison and left at the kimchi pots; HBC unfolds from beneath the gaze of Namsan Tower. At one time a shooting field for the Japanese Army during colonial rule, the area became a refuge for those returning after Japan's 1945 expulsion with nowhere to return to, forming Haebangchon: “Liberation Village.” Over the years it’s seen shifts in populations and industries time and ag

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province - Out-of-focus camerawork through cracked doors, surging sounds of the ocean, bending genre and form -- this year‘s international competition at the Jeonju film fest has all the hallmarks indie cinema audiences could expect. The 19th Jeonju International Film Festival, which features 241 films showing over 10 days, sees 10 films produced in 20 different countries compete in a veritable exhibition of experimentation and collaboration.  "Distant Constellation" (JIFF)“

The Korean competition at the 19th Jeonju International Film Festival has taken a youthful turn. According to festival organizers, much of the focus of the 10 Korean films competing this year is on the “anger and deprivation of young people,” even as Korean independent cinema itself can be seen evolving and maturing.What you won’t find in this year’s local competition are the dysfunctional -- but still happy, or at least together -- families of previous years. The spotlight has shifted to damage

One of the big issues in the film world today is getting more female perspectives on to the silver screen, and perhaps no film better exemplifies those efforts than director April Mullen’s “Below Her Mouth,” which made its Korean premiere at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival on July 14. Not content with just a female director for the lesbian love story, the film generated buzz with its all-female crew, from sets and lighting to catering. April Mullen (April Mullen)“We wanted the

The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival has enjoyed a hard-earned reputation for bringing to Korea the most outlandish, horrific and just plain absurd cinema to Korean audiences over the last two decades. In 2017, it brings “A--holes.” “A--holes,” the title of which appears uncensored on marquees, is the debut directorial feature from Peter Vack, an American actor who has appeared in mainstream efforts like “The Intern” and TV series “The Blacklist.” The X-rated film had its Asian prem

Withstanding the difficulties and inconveniences of being a vegetarian can derive from healthful or dietary purposes, but for many it is also about the environment.A 2011 report titled “Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health” broke down common food by their total carbon dioxide emissions, including both production and postproduction factors such as transportation. Lamb and beef loomed large at 39.2 and 27 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram produced, respectively. Following that we

Being vegetarian in Korea is difficult, and being vegan is just putting undue hardships on oneself -- or so go the few dozen conversations I’ve had over the last few years in Seoul since I switched to a pescatarian diet. In truth, a diet in which you cut out large swathes of food is going to be difficult anywhere -- so I hear from gluten-free and paleo diet friends alike. But Korea may be a unique situation. “What can you eat at a Korean restaurant?” I asked a vegan friend. “Mostly plain bibimba

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- The Jeonju International Film Festival invited a few guests with an interesting perspective this year -- the first foreign rock band to perform in North Korea and the team that documented the occasion.　“We had the feeling that they were pretty tense about having us here,” Morten Traavik, director of documentary musical “Liberation Day,” says of the festival organizers to The Korea Herald. “We really have the clear feeling that they are a little bit on edge.”　Traa

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Director Laura Schroeder has grabbed attention with her second feature film, “Barrage,” bringing together the real-life mother and daughter pair of French star Isabelle Huppert and Lolita Chammah. The film had its Asian premiere Friday and is competing against nine others in the international competition of the Jeonju International Film Festival. Schroeder spoke with The Korea Herald there at a coffeehouse on Saturday.Laura Schroeder, director of “Barrage” (JIFF)

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Eleven films were selected from among the initial 128 Korean features submitted for this year’s Korean Competition at the Jeonju International Film Festival, in a contest highlighting Korea’s flourishing independent film scene. The features submitted “were filmed with dramatically microscopic views compared to previous years,” according to festival organizers. The respective directors this year seem to have each taken an issue and focused on it with laser-like in

As Hollywood was making its final preparations for the glitz, glamor -- and gaffes -- of this year’s Oscars, on Saturday the film world’s purveyors of lower-budget films gathered in Santa Monica, California, for the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Among those in attendance was Andrew Ahn, who won the John Cassavetes Award presented for the best feature film with a budget under $500,000 for “Spa Night,” and who was also a nominee for the Someone to Watch Award.“Spa Night,” a story Ahn called

“Our Love Story” is an exceptional work that portrays a mostly unexceptional love story. Director Lee Hyun-ju’s debut feature centers on Yoon-ju, a quiet 32-year-old art graduate student played by Lee Sang-hee, who says she has “never had time for dating.” Her priorities are shaken up, though, following chance encounters with the person who makes her want to make the time -- the more outgoing waitress and bartender Ji-soo, played by Ryu Sun-young.“Our Love Story” has already won acclaim in Korea

Busan -- Director Yannis Sakaridis portrays a Greece in crisis through the prism of one small Athens neighborhood in “Amerika Square,” which held its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival on Tuesday.The director sat down alongside actor Yannis Stankoglou, who plays coffee bar and tattoo parlor owner Billy, with The Korea Herald before the premiere.“(Amerika Square) was the Via Veneto of Athens -- a lot of artists ... actors, all the sort of cultural establishment was there,” Sa

BUSAN -- Huge blockbuster hits keep churning out of Korean cinema in recent years, and all the while Korea’s indie film scene keeps on producing quality films exploring aspects of Korean life on a smaller budget, if no less a smaller scale.This year’s Busan International Film Fest, running Oct. 6-15, presents 301 films from 69 countries, maintaining its position as Asia’s largest. In addition to international cinema and local blockbusters, the spotlight will also shine on lesser-known directors

Director Tyler Rubenfeld traveled from New York City to Seoul to present his debut feature film in competition at a recent film festival. Noteworthy was that he made the trip to compete in the “No Budget” category -- the 64-minute film’s budget came to just $4,000. “No-budget filmmaking is just a series of burned bridges,” Rubenfeld said after the screening of his psychological drama “Wake Me When I Leave” at the Korea International Expat Film Festival, held in Seoul from Sept. 9-11. The second

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Director Andrew Ahn came to Korea to spark a conversation. 　His film, “Spa Night,” depicts David, a second-generation Korean-American working with his parents at their Korean restaurant. When the restaurant closes, David surreptitiously works at a Korean spa -- instead of studying to enter university -- to help the family. There he notices for the first time the spa’s role in secretive homosexual hookups, just as he begins considering his own identity.　“I hope th

God lives in a modest apartment in Brussels, Belgium, with his wife and daughter. He’s a miserable codger with a wife who’s afraid of him and a daughter who hates him. To pass time, he sits at an old computer where he programs laws that dictate how the world works.  God (left) ands his wife and daughter sit at the kitchen table in "The Brand New Testament."Ever notice how whichever line you stand in at the grocery store, another line moves faster? That’s because God loves tormenting you. And the

BUSAN ― “Convergence” is the kind of movie that reaffirms why fans of genre films go to film festivals. It sits somewhere in the space of an action, mystery, thriller, indie, ghost, horror feature, yet finds an original way to bust its genres open and surprise audiences ― both in twists of the story itself and the conversations it evokes about life, theology and what is truly horrifying. Coming off his overall win at FirstGlance Film Fest Los Angeles, writer and director Drew Hall brought “Conve

"Black Horse Memories" (BIFF)While international movie stars -- from Britain’s Tilda Swinton to the United States’ Harvey Keitel – are likely to draw much of the attention in Busan in the coming days, one category of movies at the city’s popular film festival is looking to shift the spotlight to new talents from across Asia. As the 20th Busan International Film Festival, which opened Thursday, sees 304 movies from 75 countries played on the big screen, the New Currents section is set to present