The Black Movie - Geneva International Independent Film Festival has programmed six films from South Korea for its upcoming 2015 edition, which kicks off on January 16th. Demonstrating a preference for indie and in particular debut films, the Swiss festival selected 10 Minutes (2013), Alive, A Hard Day, Hill of Freedom, Socialphobia and Wild Flowers.

 

Fresh from last year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) and having their world premieres in Geneva will be the debut works Socialphobia and Wild Flowers. A feature length work from the Graduate Program of the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), HONG Seok-jae’s Socialphobia examines the dark side of social media among today’s Korean youth. Meanwhile, PARK Suk-young’s Wild Flowers follows a group of homeless teenagers through their trials and tribulations in Seoul. Also a debut and a premiere from 2013’s BIFF which went on to screen at the Berlinale and win the top prize from the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema is LEE Yong-seung’s workplace drama 10 Minutes.

 

Other films that have proven popular on the festival circuit include the latest HONG Sangsoo film Hill of Freedom, KIM Seong-hun’s blackly comic thriller and Cannes selectee A Hard Day, and PARK Jung-bum’s Alive, which has picked up awards at the Locarno, Mar del Plata and Singapore International Film Festivals.