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Each year in spring, the Korean Film Council (KOFIC, Chairman: KIM Sae-hoon), along with Korean sale companies and Korean films prepare for a trip to Hong Kong. One of the biggest festivities in the city is the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), which runs alongside the Hong Kong FilMart, the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), as well as the neighboring Asian Film Awards (AFA) in Macau, all held between March 23rd and April 6th. Here’s a look at where the Korean film industry will be active in Hong Kong.

 

First, the Hong Kong International Film Festival is screening five Korean films. These are JANG Kun-jae’s A Midsummer’s Fantasia, PARK Jung-bum’s Alive, KIM Dae-hwan’s End of Winter, IM Kwon-taek’s Revivre and YOO Soon-mi’s Songs from the North. Director JANG Kun-jae and actor LIM Hyung-kook will be attending the festival to present A Midsummer’s Fantasia, while directors PARK Jung-bum and IM Kwon-taek are also planning to fly in to show their films.

 

Director IM Kwon-taek has another important agenda for his trip in addition to screenings of Revivre. It was announced that IM will be receiving the lifetime achievement award from the Asian Film Awards which take place in Macau on the 25th. The 9th edition of the awards have selected 16 different Korean filmmakers and films in its 14 categories, with Hill of Freedom and A Hard Day securing the most nominations. The event, which was founded in 2007, has recognized Korean films from day one with The Host (2006) winning best film followed by Secret Sunshine (2007) in its second year. Since then, Korean films have always been an important part of the awards. This year, Busan International Film Festival’s programmer KIM Ji-seok and Busan Cinema Center’s HUH Moon-young were invited to sit on the jury for the awards.

 

Participating at the HK Filmart, KOFIC will be setting up a Korean pavilion with 19 different companies. Eight of them are technical support companies while the rest are sales or production companies. Running during HKIFF, the HK Filmart will be held from the 23rd until the 26th. When asked why KOFIC attends the market, Jinhae PARK of the International Promotion Department said, “Hong Kong Filmart is Asia’s largest film industry market. Through the event, KOFIC strives to expand the Korean film market and to promote our films across the world. Not only that, with HKIFF, AFA and HAF happening at the same time, it’s the perfect place to find out about the trends of the film industry. In addition, due to the number of industry professionals that participate from all around the globe, it’s a networking hub between industries and companies, while providing an opportunity for international partnerships.”

 

Although there are no Korean projects featured at this year’s Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum, the Korean film industry looks to be active and abundant in Hong Kong this year, demonstrating anew its status as a key Asian player.