Celebrated director HUR Jin-ho is set to take part in the 19th Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) after his new project The Dinner was selected as one of this year’ 29 participants. HUR’s is the only project from South Korea. The Dinner tells the story of two brothers with differing world views, one a materialistic lawyer, the other an idealistic surgeon, who must set their differences asid...

SON Ye-jin and LEE Sun-kyun have received offers to star alongside Avatar star Sam WORTHINGTON in the upcoming film Cross from Hollywood director Andrew NICCOL. Cross will take place in the future in a multiracial country which is divided by a border that separates it into a rich side and a poor one. SON’s character is a woman on the poor side who becomes a single mother when her husband dies duri...

Director IM Sang-soo’s latest film To the Land of Happiness (working title) wrapped production on October 19. The thriller features CHOI Min-shik and PARK Hae-il, marking the first on-screen pairing for the two stars. CHOI and PARK play two men who meet by chance and decide to go on a trip, in search of one last taste of happiness. However, something unexpected takes place during the journey. Asid...

Korean Film Council(KOFIC) has completed its structural adjustment, with a newly established executive branch. The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (minister DO Jong-hwan) has been building a new executive department, beginning with the appointment of non-standing commissioners on October 23rd last year, with the additional appointment of non-standing commissioners on December 13th, and th...

Korean Film Council (KOFIC) and Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) will host director HUR Jin-ho masterclass at CGV’s Cine Library in Myeong-dong, on April 14th. The masterclass will be an opportunity to share director HUR’s film world and directing know-how for filmmakers, film students and general audiences. HUR graduated from the Philosophy department of Yonsei University and completed the 9th ...

Korean films maintained high market share in August 2016 as ever. According to the report on Korean film industry by Korean Film Council (KOFIC), local films recorded 69.1% of market share in August after 60.9% of July. However, the number of domestic film viewers was 20.55 million and the sales for domestic films was USD 148 million, which decreased by 2.6% and 0.8% respectively, compared to the...

Box Office Report of 2016 After five years of consecutive growth, the Korean film industry remained healthy in 2016, though the half-decade streak of gains came to an end as the industry essentially remained flat. Admissions reached 217.02 million, which was down just 0.1% from 2016. A wide range of hits accounted for the hefty admissions total in a year that welcomed just one new member to the va...

After a few years of major growth at the beginning of the decade, the Korean box office has remained flat once again, with this year’s total to date staying at the same level as 2015. However, where gains have been made is in the local industry, which has churned out several major hits and found itself with a significantly better market share than last year. Local Hits Edge Out Hollywood as Box Of...

Hollywood Claims Edge in Slow Weekend After six weeks of local dominance during Korea’s biggest moviegoing season, local films lost the majority market share for the first time as business cooled off significantly, yet with the Chuseok(Korean Thanksgiving Day) holiday and a pair of homegrown tentpoles on the way this is likely to be a short-lived win for Hollywood, which accounted for 56% of sale...