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Based on a novel by Chinese author YU Hua, with the setting switched to 1950s South Korea, Chronicle of a Blood Merchant is the second directorial outing for actor HA Jung-woo, following 2013’s Fasten Your Seatbelt. He stars in the film as a man trying to support his family after the Korean War by selling his own blood. Also in the film are HA Ji-won (Sector 7, 2011), CHO Jin-woong (A Hard Day, 2014), LEE Gyoung-young (26 Years, 2012) and a wealth of other well-known Korean faces. HA, who is in Okinawa for the festival, will next travel to Cannes to support his next starring role in PARK Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, which is screening in competition.

HAN Sang-hee is also in town to present his new Korea-Japan collaboration Trumpet of the Cliff, following his previous co-production Virgin Snow (2007). The film stars L.Joe, a member of the K-pop band Teen Top, and was shot on Ishigaki Island. Trumpet of the Cliff chronicles a sad story between a woman receiving heart transplant surgery and a young trumpet player.

Featuring umpteen famous Japanese stars and comedians mingling with eager local crowds, the Okinawa International Movie Festival stages free screenings all over the Okinawa Prefecture. The festival, which opens with the premiere of Netlfix’s Japanese TV show Spark, runs April 21st to 24th.