Seoul Independent Film Festival on Monday announced that it will hold a screening event, “Indie Picnic 2022,” at Indie Space in Seoul starting on April 8. The screening event, which will be held from Friday to Sunday over a two-week period, will run from April 8 to 10 and also from April 15 to 17. The event organizer selected 23 short films and nine features, which include “Sinner” directed by Yang Jae-joon, the top winner of the short film section during last year&rs

Jung Woo, who rose to stardom with tvN drama “Reply 1994,” is returning to the big screen as third-rate gangster Hee-su in the noir film “Hot Blooded,” directed by Cheon Myoung-kwan. “‘Hot Blooded’ has its own unique mood. When I read the script -- it is difficult to describe it in words -- but I felt some sort of attraction,” Jung said at a press conference held at Yongsan CGV in Seoul on Wednesday. He explained that what set this new movie apar

Although the story of Apple TV+ series “Pachinko” appears to be specific to Korean history, the series’ co-director Kogonada said it is more than just that. “I think this story is specific to Korean history but also deeply universal,” Kogonada said during an online event with Korean media from Los Angeles on Friday. “Even today, we know that people are being displaced, and families are having to make choices on how to survive. And this is a common story thro

In Our Prime (Korea) Opened March 9 Drama Directed by Park Dong-hoon Lee Hak-sung (Choi Min-sik) works as a school security guard, but is actually a mathematical genius who has defected from North Korea. Hak-sung meets Ji-woo (Kim Dong-hwi), a student who is having a hard time fitting in at school due to his different social background. After finding out about Hak-sung’s talent, Ji-woo asks Hak-sung to tutor him. 　 Blacklight (US) Opened March 9 Action Directed by Mark Williams

Korean classical pianist Lim Dong-hyek on Tuesday said that he is still hoping to improve as he marks the 20th anniversary of his debut. “When I was a teenager and also in my 20s, I focused more on achievements, mainly winning piano competitions. Now there are new tasks in front of me. It might sound a little abstract but I aim to be a better musician,” he said during a press conference at Cosmos Art Hall in southern Seoul for his upcoming solo recital tour. “I’m not

Netflix’s global megahit drama “Squid Game” won two trophies at the 27th Critics Choice Awards held in Los Angeles on Monday. The show’s lead Lee Jung-jae won best actor in a drama series for his role as Gi-hun, a down-on-his-luck middle-aged man who takes part in the deadly “Squid Game.” “Thank you, god. Thank you very much Critics Choice Awards and everyone who loved and supported ‘Squid Game.’ I can’t express how wonderful I am. Th

A lieutenant’s life is turned upside down after accidentally killing a man. He desperately hides all the pieces of evidence, including the dead man’s body. Just when he thinks he has succeeded, he receives threats from a mysterious witness. This is the plot of a recent hit French film on Netflix, “Restless,” directed by Regis Blondeau. Released on Feb. 28, the film immediately became popular globally with its fresh and tight plot, topping the streaming service platform&

Kakao Entertainment announced that it has selected webtoon “The Siren” as its first task for the upgraded Super Webtoon project to create the next “Itaewon Class.“ Released on Dec. 26 last year on Kakao’s webtoon platform, “The Siren” written by Saengyam and illustrated by Poya is a Korean webtoon produced based on the web novel “Becoming the Villain‘s Family” by Seol I-su. Web novels are written works of literature available primarily

In Our Prime (Korea) Opened March 9 Drama Directed by Park Dong-hoon Lee Hak-sung (Choi Min-sik) works as a school’s security guard but is actually a mathematical genius that defected from North Korea. Hak-sung meets Ji-woo (Kim Dong-hwi), a student that is having a hard time fitting in at school due to his different social background. After finding out about Hak-sung’s talent, Ji-woo asks Hak-sung to teach him math. 　 The Batman (US) Opened March 1 Action Directed by Matt Reeves

Netflix‘s original series “Juvenile Justice” topped the OTT platform’s non-English TV series chart on Thursday. The chart lists non-English TV series in an order of the number of hours that they were watched by the viewers weekly. According to the chart, Netflix subscribers in 190 different territories watched the Korean drama series “Juvenile Justice” for 45.93 million hours during the Feb. 28 to March 6 period. “Café con aroma de mujer”

Three Korean drama series — “Work Later, Drink Now,” “Monstrous” and “Damn Good Company” -- will be screened at the Cannes International Series Festival Season 5’s non-competition section of South Korea fiction on April 6. Established in 2018, the Cannes International Series Festival is an event that aims to highlight drama series from all over the world and to give them an international voice. The festival will be held from April 1 to 6 in Cannes

Why should viewers watch your film in movie theaters? This is a common question that is asked to actors during promotional press conferences, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly hindered moviegoers from heading to theaters. Oscar-winning “Parasite” star Choi Woo-shik answered the question by emphasizing special experiences that only theaters offer. “I think movie theaters have everything that can help maximize the films’ different e

When French director Denis Dercourt was asked to make “Vanishing” in Korea by producer Alexis Dantec around three years ago, he accepted it without any hesitation, the filmmaker said. “It is an incredible chance to shoot in Korea now. You might not know how loved Korean contents are around the world. Korea is like a model to the world,” Dercourt said during an online press conference held on Tuesday. The director added that he was excited to find out how staff and actor

Korean actor Lee Jung-jae, 49, won the award for best male performance in a new scripted series at the 37th Film Independent Spirit Awards held in California, Monday. The top Korean star was named the winner for playing Seong Gi-hun, a down-on-his-luck middle-aged man who takes part in the titular deadly game of the global megahit Netflix series “Squid Game.” Lee became the second Korean actor to win a prize at the Film Independent Spirit Awards after veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung w

Rhee Keun, a former Navy special warfare officer who gained popularity as one of the trainers in the YouTube series “Fake Men,” on Sunday claimed that he has left the country to fight as a volunteer soldier in the war in Ukraine. The Navy SEAL-turned-YouTuber, also known as Ken Rhee, posted on Instagram photos that appear to be taken at an airport, with the caption, “When the Ukrainian president called for help from all over the world, ROKSEAL (Rhee Keun’s YouTube channe

Indie Space, operator of Korea’s first independent film screening theater, Thursday announced opening of a new facility at Lotte Cinema’s Hongik Univ. location to resume its business beginning Monday. Indie Space has been providing support for producing and releasing Korean independent films, sponsoring independent film festivals such as the Seoul Independent Film Festival, Seoul Independent Documentary Film Festival, and Indie Forum, as well as assisting DVD productions of indie fi

Chinese streaming platform iQiyi is feeling the heat from netizens in China for showing the Korean drama “Something in the Rain,” the first Korean series to have received approval by Beijing in five years. Netizens took to China’s Twitter-like Weibo to complain about iQiyi’s decision to start airing on the show on its platform. “(Korean dramas) can stay banned … Why are you starting this?” one user commented on iQiyi’s Weibo post. The comment

The Batman (US) Opened March 1 Action Directed by Matt Reeves Ahead of the election for mayor of Gotham, sadistic serial killer the Riddler (Paul Dano) begins murdering key political figures. Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson), as Batman, investigates the case with clues at the scene left behind directly for him. As he investigates the mystery of the psycho criminal, he begins to unravel the message being laid out. Serve the People (Korea) Opened Feb. 23 Romance Directed by Jang Cheol-soo

Actor Ana Ruggiero said she was a little skeptical when director Lee Jea-han offered her the role of Sophie, the protagonist in his indie film “Sophie’s World.” The Brazilian actor, 27, who first came to Korea as an exchange student, explained during her interview with The Korea Herald that it was because he proposed the role via an Instagram message. “I was like, what is this?” she said. “I do receive a lot of messages on Instagram and half of them are scam

The official send-off ceremony for the Korea’s first Culture Minister Lee O-young took place at the National Library of Korea at 10 a.m., Wednesday. The ceremony was held at the library to commemorate Lee, who devoted his life to writing as an author and played a major role in the development of the library during his tenure as culture minister, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Along with the family of the deceased, more than 250 people including former culture