Korean cinema is getting an early start on the 2014 international festival circuit as a trio of local films have been selected for the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Han Gong-ju, Juvenile Offender and Montage were invited to the event, which takes place in a town on the outskirt of Los Angeles in California.

 

The well-received indie Han Gong-ju, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, was invited to the ‘New Voices/New Visions’ section. A few weeks ago, Director LEE Su-jin’s debut earned the top award (The Golden Star) at the Marrakesh International Film Festival. The film also earned two awards in Busan (CGV Movie Collage Award, Citizen Reviewers’ Award) as well as a small prize at the Seoul Independent Film Festival.

 

Joining it will be KANG Yi-kwan’s drama Juvenile Offender. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival all the way back in September 2012 but has remained a persistent presence at festivals ever since. It has earned major awards from the Tokyo (Special Jury Prize, Best Actor – for SEO Young-joo) and Cinemanila (Lino Brocka Grand Prize, Best Actor – for SEO Young-joo) International Film Festival. It also picked up Best Childen’s Film at the recent Asian Pacific Screen Awards, held in Brisbane, Australia. KANG’s work will screen in ‘Awards Buzz: Best Foreign Language Film.’

 

Lastly, the mid-level Korean revenge thriller Montage, starring UHM Jeong-hwa and KIM Sang-kyung and directed by JEONG Keun-seob, is set to screen in the ‘World Cinema Now’ section. The film pulled in just over two million on general release back in spring.

 

The Palm Springs International Film Festival, which kicks off on January 3rd and runs through to the 14th, is one of the first major international events on the festival calendar.