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Projects focusing on Korean culture attract attention    

 

The 2014 AFM (American Film Market) closed on November 13th. Since its inception in 1981, AFM has stepped up not only as the largest film market in North America but also a substantial world market which boasts a global-based scale of film professionals from around 70 countries participating each year. This also means that AFM has become a market where worldwide film companies gearing up with new line-ups wait for with great anticipation.

 

For the Korean film industry, this year’s AFM was a fruitful one. CJ Entertainment as the first Korean film industry to break grounds in the British market, made its mark by achieving the English sales of the highest grossing Korean film Roaring Currents which scored 17 million in local ticket sales. Roaring Currents attracting great interest in the international market when it replaced The Host’s top score of USD 1.98 million in the U.S. box office with a USD 2.70 million. CJ Entertainment conveyed the mood at AFM by commenting “Encouraged by the great response from the U.S. and Australian market, foreign buyers showed keen interest in Roaring Currents”.

 

CJ Entertainment films’ move into the Asian market is noted as well. The latest work from YOUN Je-kyun, Ode to My Father, and KIM Hyun-seok’s C’est Si Bon both sold its in-flight screening rights to Hong Kong while A Bastard sold its theatrical rights to Japan. Films like Ode to My Father’s overview of Korea’s modern history through a father’s unfortunate life, and C’est Si Bon‘s background set in music hall ‘C’est Si Bon’ which inspired the Korean music scene’s folk wave during the 60s and 70s are anticipated to serve as ambassadors promoting Korean culture.   

 

Lotte Entertainment displayed strong sales output in the Asian region. Tazza-The Hidden Card starring CHOI Seung-hyun, also known as T.O.P, a member of popular idol group Big Bang, was sold to China and Singapore, and The Pirates starring SON Ye-jin and KIM Nam-gil was sold to China. Especially, The Con Artists attracted considerable interest not only from the Chinese market but also the North American and Japanese market, and is currently in talks to close sales. The film’s male lead KIM Woo-bin’s fame as a rising Hallyu (Korean Wave) star seems to have contributed to such accomplishment. The Con Artists dealing with a group of specialists in search of hidden money follows up from filmmaker KIM Hong-sun’s crowd-pleasing sensuous thriller Traffickers. HAN Min-hyung, Director of International Sales at Lotte Entertainment, reported that “The Con Artists was pre-sold to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines at Busan’s Asian Film Market with an addition of sales to Singapore at this year’s AFM”.

 

Showbox/Mediaplex, Inc. focused on its 2015 line-up such as Gangnam Blues and Detective K: Secret of the lost island over current theatrical releases at film markets, and Gangnam Blues was sold to 11 territories. With only a trailer release and no market screenings, such accomplishments testified to the level of interest from foreign buyers which the foreign press caught on as well. The November 5th Screen Daily ran a first-page coverage on Gangnam Blues emphasizing the screen debut of LEE Min-ho, now a leading force of the Korean Wave with his TV series such as Boys Before Flowers and The Heirs. Showbox also gives a positive self-evaluation on its first-half-of-the-year foreign distribution line-up such as Insiders starring LEE Byung-hun and The Classified File starring KIM Yun-seok.

 

Period piece The Royal Tailor dealing with the subject of Korean tradition costumes was also popular at AFM, attracting buyers from Asia such as China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as Europe and the U.S. “International sales of period pieces are not so easy if it’s not a mix-genre such as action. However, The Royal Tailor with a plausible drama-line and unique subject matter that includes a conflict structure associative of Mozart and Salliereu, and the first catwalk during the Joseon Dynasty(1392-1895) raised considerable interest from European and American buyers,” stated International distributor Finecut. Fashion King based on the popular webtoon of the same title was sold to a number of Asian territories including Japan, Singapore and Malaysia at this year’s AFM. The film displays an impressive harmony of cartoon-like structure combined with serious drama.

 

Meanwhile, M-Line Distribution joined the race at AFM with a number of sales. Slow Video (dir. KIM Young-tak) was sold to China and Taiwan, and Whistle Blower (dir. YIM Soon-rye) to Malaysia and Taiwan. 20th Century Fox affiliated FIP (Fox International Production) produced Slow Video is a comic and moving account of a man with dynamic visual acuity or the ability to capture moments of moving objects and landscapes who falls in love. The dedicated love for a woman by a man with an unusual ability is delivered in a well-layered performance by actor CHA Tae-hyun. Already raising awareness with its storyline inspired by the notorious ‘HWANG Woo-suk Scandal’ that rocked the world, Whistle Blower was sold to 11 Asian territories including Malaysia, Taiwan and China. The film traces a hidden truth through a researcher who chose his conscience over national interest and a TV producer invested in justice and the people’s right to know. The director YIM Soon-rye was praised for a well-balanced approach to the overly heated controversial case. In addition, Dad for Rent (dir. KIM Deok-su) was sold to Taiwan. The film deals with the rather absurd subject of a daughter posting the sale of her unemployed father on internet’s second-hand site. The film avoids falling into the conventions of juvenile humor and tells the story of heartwarming family ties in a contemplative–but-not-too-serious tone. With its lively touches, the film stands out from the numerous works on the subject of father or fatherhood. The King of Jokgu (dir. WOO Moon-gi) is about the ardent passion towards foot volleyball a group of university students who are back after their military service have. It sold its theatrical rights to China and in-flight rights to Kazakhstan. This is the second time for a Korean independent film to sell its in-flight screening rights to Kazakhstan since Shuttlecock (dir. LEE Yu-bin).

 

ZHANG Lu’s Gyeongju was sold to China. Starring PARK Hae-il and SHIN Min-a, the film is a poetically visual account of ‘first love’ presented in aesthetics unique to filmmaker ZHANG Lu. The film boasts impressive synergy between PARK Hae-il’s cunningly smooth performance and SHIN Min-a’s dreamlike image. Meanwhile, Scandal Makers (dir. KANG Hyoung-chul) sold its remake rights to India making it a total of three territories on top of Hollywood and China. It will be interesting to see how the film will be reinterpreted in each culture.

 

Films with subject matters uniquely ‘Korean’ stood out in terms of Korean sales at this year’s AFM. From highlighting the heroic accounts of historical figure Admiral YI Sun-shin in Roaring Currents, and period piece on Korean traditional costumes in The Royal Tailor to a trip down Korean modern history set against Busan’s Gukje Market in Ode to My Father, films with Korean subjects and sensibilities attracted considerable interest. Gangnam Blues as a noir set during the 1970s Gangnam redevelopment rush also presents a slice of Korean society. Films with unique topics were popular among foreign buyers as well such as Slow Video with its unusual premise of dynamic visual acuity, and Dad for Rent with its rather ‘cheeky’ episodes. Works based on webtoons also stood out in sales. And with the influence of the ‘Korean Webtoon Wave’, film professionals sought out films based on webtoons of the same title like Insiders and Fashion King.