CHOI Min-sik to Star in JEON Soo-il Art Film

Actor CHOI Min-sik, one of Korea¡¯s most recognized thespians, will star in art house director JEON Soo-il¡¯s latest project ¡°Girl of the Himalayas¡± (working title).  The low-budget US $500 000 production will be shot over a month in Nepal. 

CHOI is known to international audiences for his mesmerizing performances in the Cannes-winning films Old Boy (2004) and Chihwaseon (2002).  At home he is highly regarded for both his theatrical and screen career, endearing many with his particularly moving portrayal of a struggling boxer in commercial hit Crying Fist (2005).

In ¡°Himalayas¡± CHOI will play a Korean company director taking the remains of a Nepalese migrant worker to his family in the mountain regions of Nepal.  He grows suddenly ill there and is nursed by the sister of the deceased man. When a relationship develops between the two, it draws the attention of the village council. 

Director JEON is an award-winning independent auteur whose films have screened at Venice, Cannes, Pusan, Pesaro, and Brisbane International Film Festivals among others.  His With a Girl of Black Soil premiered in the Venice Horizon¡¯s section in 2007 and screened in Pusan where it won the NETPAC award.  ¡°Himalayas¡± was selected to receive development funding from Pusan¡¯s Asian Cinema Fund the same year. 

The film is being produced by Show East, and is expected to be completed in time for consideration by Cannes. 

Nigel D¡¯Sa (KOFIC)