Seohyun of K-pop girl group Girls’ Generation has shed her image as a girl-next-door in her debut film “Love and Leashes,” a rom-com directed by Park Hyun-jin. “When I first read the script, it was fresh and shocking. It was a role that made me want to take up the challenge as an actor,” Seohyun said during an online press conference held on Tuesday. “Not only did it (the script) have a unique topic, it also showed how a man and a woman come to understand the

It will be difficult to find big-budget Korean films in the coming month or so as many of them have delayed their opening dates. No films with a budget of more than 10 billion won will open before April, as they delayed their release dates. This is partially due to a surge of COVID-19 cases here. The number of moviegoers hit a new low over the Seollal holiday, usually one of the busiest times of the year for movie theaters in Korea. According to the Korean Film Council’s data, during

Filmmaker Hong Sang-soo and actor Kim Min-hee will participate in the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, which will take place from Feb. 10 to 20 as an in-person event. In January, the auteur’s 27th feature, “The Novelist’s Film,” was listed along with 17 other movies that will vie for the Gold and Silver Bear awards at the Berlinale. Kim, who is in a relationship with Hong and also considered his muse, is a lead actor and co-producer for “The Novelist&rsqu

Taegukgi Toscana Korea Association on Thursday announced that this year’s Florence Korea Film Fest will take place at Cinema La Compagnia in Florence, Italy, from April 7 to 15. Some of the movies also will be screened online on the platform Piu Compagnia during the festival. Although the event organizer has not revealed the full list, it said 12 Korean actors, directors and producers will attend the film festival to mark its 20th anniversary. During the last 20 years, over 2,000 Korea

The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (Korea) Opened Jan. 26 Action, Comedy Directed by Kim Jung-hoon Set in the Joseon era, pirate captain Hye-rang (Han Hyo-joo) and her crew go on a journey to look for hidden treasures of the Goryeo Kingdom that no longer exist. Troublemaking swordsman Muchi (Kang Ha-neul) and his followers also decide to join them. However, on their way, they are met with all sorts of adversities.  Kingmaker (Korea) Opened Jan. 26 Drama Directed by Byun Sung-hyun Oppositi

Busan International Film Festival announced its vision and goals to expand its presence in Asia on Tuesday. Established in 1996, BIFF is the first international film festival in Korea, held annually in the local theaters of Busan. According to the BIFF secretariat, it held the first general meeting of 2022 on Jan. 27 at BIFF Hill of the Busan Cinema Center. Following the meeting, it announced its new vision to hold an event to link filmmakers and moviegoers in Asia. BIFF‘s previous visi

The Seollal holiday is usually one of the busiest times of the year at movie theaters with many new works being released. It is also the time when local broadcasters present special films for viewers who are staying home during the holidays. Despite the plethora of options on offer, there are times when it feels like there is nothing to watch. For those people, it might be a good idea to check out some of the films produced by familiar stars. These vary from series on streaming platforms to s

The Pirates: Goblin Flag (Korea) Opened Jan. 26 Action, Comedy Directed by Kim Jung-hoon Set in the Joseon era, pirate captain Hye-rang (Han Hyo-joo) and her crew members go on a journey to look for hidden treasures of the Goryeo Kingdom that no longer exist. Trouble-making swordsman Muchi (Kang Ha-neul) and his followers also decide to join the pirates. However, on their way, they are met with all sorts of adversities.  Kingmaker (Korea) Opened Jan. 26 Drama Directed by Byun Sung-hyun O

Director Jang Cheol-soo has returned after nine years with a provocative romance film titled “Serve the People.” Jang is known for creating “Bedevilled,” which was invited to the 63rd Cannes International Film Festival, and hit film “Secretly, Greatly” which drew over 6.9 million moviegoers. “Every director’s dream is to create a movie that can be screened in front of an audience. But it was not easy. I think I grew up a lot during the last nine

The Korean Theater Association on Tuesday released a statement to urge the government to give assistance to local theaters that have been suffering since COVID-19 broke out two years ago. The Korean Theater Association’s members include the top three local multiplex operators -- CGV, Lotte Cinema and Megabox. “We have been complaining about the financial difficulties caused by the pandemic and asked for support for the survival of our film industry, but we have not received any c

Veteran actor Kim Eui-sung and journalist Choo Chin-woo’s political documentary about the monthslong candlelight protests in Korea that led to former President Park Geun-hye’s ouster, titled “Candlelight Revolution,” is finally set for release, a month ahead of presidential election. “I proposed this project to Choo,” Kim said during an interview with a group of reporters on Monday. “When I was traveling back in 2018, I was listening to the radio and h

Presidential election season is in full swing as the two main opposing parties level an endless stream of allegations at each other to win over more votes. This is a rough description of what happens in hit maker Byun Sung-hyun’s new political film “Kingmaker,” as well as what is happening in the Korean political scene right now. The film’s main lead Seol Kyung-gu, who played opposition party politician Kim Woon-beom, said that the movie’s release date was not in

An exhibition that features trends of premium and unique sneakers titled “Neck Breakers” is being held at Hoard Gallery in Samcheong-dong, Seoul. The exhibition will run through Sunday. It displays various valuable sneakers including Michael Jordan’s Nike shoes, Kanye West’s Adidas shoes and also sneakers that were considered futuristic in the films of the ‘80s. The exhibition also features some behind stories related to sneaker companies and celebrities’ p

Criticisms over territorial broadcaster KBS1 abusing a horse to film a scene for the 7th episode of the period drama “The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won” is continuing even after the apology statement was released on Thursday. The scene, which was aired on Jan. 1, featured Yi Seong-gye, the founder of the Joseon Kingdom accidentally falling from the horse. “We feel deeply responsible and apologize for the accident that occurred during filming,” the broadcaster said. &ldquo

Special Delivery (Korea) Opened Jan. 12 Action Directed by Park Dae-min Special delivery driver Eun-ha (Park So-dam) mainly works for a criminal group. She delivers anything that cannot be delivered legally. One day, Eun-ha receives a mission to deliver Seo-won (Jung Hyeon-jun), a young boy that a criminal group is chasing after. When she decides to save him, she becomes a target of not only the crime group, but also associated corrupt police officers. Sing 2 (US) Opened Jan. 5 Animation Direc

Kang Dong-han, vice president of content at Netflix Korea, on Wednesday introduced 25 new Korean original content works that the streaming platform will introduce in 2022 with an expectation to see more successful cases like the global hit series “Squid Game.” “Last year was special, as Oh Young-soo who won the Golden Globes said, it was no longer ‘us in the world’, but ‘the world in us’,” Kang said during a press conference held via Zoom with loc

Kang Ha-neul is returning to the big screen as a trouble-making swordsman in “The Pirates: Goblin Flag” directed by Kim Jung-hoon. Director Kim’s new movie is set in the Joseon era and revolves around a journey by pirates looking for hidden treasures of a Goryeo Kingdom that no longer exists. “When I first read the script, I thought of Muchi (the character played by Kang) as a troublemaker, so it was important for him to stay somewhat hyper most of the time. I thought o

Jeonju International Film Festival’s organizing committee announced that the annual film fest will be held for 10 days from April 28 in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. The 23rd Jeonju IFF committee also added that it is hoping to return nearly to how it previously operated the international film festival before the pandemic. There will be 18 sections and 230 films will be screened during the festival, which shows the committee’s determination to host an event just how it was before

A female captain character is not only rare in Korean films but also for actress Han Hyo-joo, who is widely known for her roles in romantic movies. But Han said she enjoyed greatly playing the role of pirate captain in “The Pirates: Goblin Flag” directed by Kim Jung-hoon. “(Although it is set in the Joseon era,) I did not consider it as a period film but rather as a fantasy adventure movie so I could do everything freely and I really enjoyed it,” Han said. “When de

“The Pirates,” which attracted an audience of more than 8.6 million eight years ago, has returned as “The Pirates: Goblin Flag” directed by Kim Jung-hoon. Although it is the sequel of the hit Korean pirate film, those who have not watched the first movie can enjoy the film without much difficulty as everything -- from the director, plot to all of the cast in the film -- is new. “The Pirates: Goblin Flag” revolves around a journey by pirates looking for hidd