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The 62nd Berlin International Film Festival (also known as the Berlinale) has announced further selections to include the Korean feature film <Choked>. Directed by KIM Joong-hyeon, the film will be in the festival’s Forum section. Two Korean shorts - <Ad balloon>, directed by LEE Woo-jung, and <Anesthesia (Mah-Chui)>, directed by KIM Souk-young, will also be in the short film competition.

Kim Joong-hyeon’s debut feature film <Choked> was produced by the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA Films) and is accordingly sold internationally by CJ E&M which has a partnership with the school. The film looks at a suffocating cycle of economic disorder through the lives of family members dealing with bad investments and violent creditors. <Choked> made its world premiere in last year’s New Currents section at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) and will be making its international premiere in Berlin.

The Berlinale announced 38 films for the Forum section with a theme of Everyday Life and Fantasy. “Differing life plans, generational conflicts and the ambivalence of so-called progress are at the centre of numerous films in the 2012 Forum programme,” said the festival.

It has also stated that the leitmotif of the Berlinale Shorts this year is “Say Goodbye to the Story”, noting “Memories of those who were different than everyone else at school is the point of departure for <Ad balloon> by Lee Woo-jung. Also the second Korean entry, <Mah-Chui>, tells a universal story about hierarchical pressures and the need to reinforce one’s moral stance through one’s actions.”

In the shorts competition, 27 films from 22 countries will vie for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear Jury Prize amongst other awards. Last year, Korea’s <Night Fishing>, directed by brothers PARK Chan-wook and PARK Chan-kyong, won the Golden Bear for shorts. Another Korean film, <Broken Night>, directed by YANG Hyo-joo, won the Silver Bear.

 

 

Jan. 19, 2012