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MIFF Holds Special North Korean Retrospective
 

Both South and North Korean cinema will be on prominent display at the upcoming Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), which will take place from July 25th to August 11th. A number of Korean films that have already made an impact on the film festival circuit will be featured but the real find is a special program that will look back at the works of North Korean cinema, a rare opportunity to discover the reclusive country’s cinema on screen.

 

Among the eight South Korean films on offer will be five features and three shorts. Looking at the features on offer, JO Sung-hee’s hit fantasy melodrama A Werewolf Boy stars SONG Joong-ki and PARK Bo-young and accrued over seven million admissions in Korea late last year. HONG Sangsoo’s Nobody’s Daughter Haewon had its world premiere as part of the competition lineup of this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. E J-yong’s Behind the Camera is a successful return to the mockumentary format he previously explored with Actresses from 2009. Padak is an affecting yet adult offering from Korea’s growing feature film animation sector. KANG Yi-kwan’s Juvenile Offender has been a hit on the international film festival circuit, netting awards in Tokyo and Cinemanila.

 

The shorts lineup also features some heavy hitters and will be led by MOON Byoung-gon’s Safe, this year’s Palme d’Or winner in Cannes’ Short Film Competition. Also screening will be Jury, the debut short of KIM Dong-ho, the honorary director of the Busan International Film Festival, which was commissioned as the opening short of the Asiana International Short Film Festival, and Day Trip, the second collaboration between sibling directors PARK Chan-wook and PARK Chan-kyong, which stars SONG Kang-ho and was made for the outdoor clothing brand Kolon Sport.

 

This year’s MIFF will also feature a special focus on North Korea. The program will feature the UK/Belgium/North Korea co-production Comrade Kim Goes Flying, which has had a remarkably successful run on the festival circuit. Meanwhile, the North Korean retrospective will screen the likes of Centre Forward, about a wannabe soccer player, the martial arts film Hong Kil-dong, the melodrama A Broad Bellflower and The Flower Girl, a classic of North Korean cinema.