Aachi And Ssipak

director

Jo Beom-jin(조범진)

cast

Ryoo Seung-beom

Im Chang-jeong

Hyeon Yeong

Sin Hae-cheol

"Aachi and Ssipak" wins the grand prix at SICAF 2007

The animation "Aachi And Ssipak" (director: Jo Beom-jin; production: JTeam Studio) won the grand prix at the 2007 Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF 2007),which was concluded at the end of last month. Of the more than 350 feature-length and short animation films invited from 41 countries and 169 official selections, "Aachi And Ssipak" competed against some of the best animated films such as "Yobi, The Five Tailed Fox" (Korea; director: Lee Seong-gang), Lotte From Gadgetville (Estonia), and The Khan Kluay: Elephant King (Thailand), and won the grand prix for its storyline's uniqueness and creativity and exceptional quality. Having received much attention as some of Korea's top actors, such as Ryoo Seung-beom, Im Chang-jeong, Hyeon Yeong, and Sin Hae-cheol, lent their voices to the characters in "Aachi And Ssipak", the film had premiered in Korea in June last year and had been chosen as a star project by the Korea Culture and Content Agency (KOCCA, CEO: Suh, Byung-Moon). Thanks to its cheerful parody, humor, and state-of-the-art technology, "Aachi And Ssipak" is receiving many invitations from international festivals. It has already been invited and showcased at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, Annecy International Animation Festival, and others in Seattle, USA, Durban in the Republic of South Africa, and Melbourne in Australia.

Aahi, Yobi to Compete at SICAF '07

The Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival has finalized the entry list of films for competition at this year's festival opening March 23rd. A record 1,275 films were submitted from 65 countries and 169 from 41 nations were selected to compete. Two Korean films ",Aachi and Ssipak" and "Yobi, The Five Tailed Fox", will compete in the Feature Films category out of a total 5 entries at the 11th SICAF 2007. The other 3 are the French production "Renaissance", Thailand's first ever 3D animated film "Khan Kluay", and "Lotte From Gadgetville" from Estonia. The official selection for Professional Short includes the Academy Award nominee "The Danish Poet" and the Siggraph 2006 grand prix winner "One Rat Short". The competing films will be screened at CGV Yongsan and the Seoul Animation Center during the festival period while exibitions, a film market and forums will be underway at the Seoul Trade Exhibition Center. The 5-day festival will end March 27th.

Korea Cultural Center, L.A. to hold 'Japan-Korea Film Festival'

Korea Cultural Center, L.A. (Director Kim, Jongyul) is holding 'Japan-Korea Film Festival' along with Japan Foundation and American Cinemathque on March 31st in 'Egyptian Theater'. Presented films will include Korea's (Director Jo Beom-jin) and Japan's (Director Hosoda Mamoru). takes place in a city where human 'waste' is the only source for energy. It"s about an adventure that Aachi, Ssipak, and Eeppeunee have. is about the girl who has a power to rewind time back to the past. It was submitted in 19th Tokyo International Film Festival. Other than the presentation of the films, KCCLA is also planning to invite directors and cultural industry experts both from Korea and Japan and have Japan-Korea Animation Conference as well as Q&A session with the directors.

Brussels Fantastic Invites 2 Korean Films

Two of last year's big budget fantasy thrillers have been invited to compete at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film (BIFFF), set to run April 5th – 17th, 2007 in Belgium. Bong Joon-ho's record-smashing monster film "The Host" and Jo Dong-oh's purgatorial fantasy "The Restless" will vie for the top international prize in the program. Other Korean films selected to participate in the non-competition category are Ahn Byeong-ki's residential horror "A.P.T" (2006), Kim Eun-kyeong's boarding school nightmare, "Roommates - 4 Horror Tales" (2006), Jo Beom-jin's scatological animation "Aachi And Ssipak" (2006), Lee Si-myeong's biting comedy "Vampire Cop Ricky" (2006) and Lim Ah-ron's animated children's feature "Mug Travel" (2006). BIFFF ranks along with Spain's Sitges and Portugal's Fantasporto as one of the world's top three fantastic film festivals. Previous Korean awardees at the festival include Kim Ki-duk's "The Isle" (2000) and Jang Joon-hwan's "Save the Green Planet" (2003). The Host recently brought Bong Joon-ho the Best Director award at the Fantasporto International Film Festival. The story of a ravenous monster – spawned from chemicals dumped by the US army into Seoul's central river – broke every record at South Korea's box office and has been successful upon release in both the US and China.

'The Host', 'The Restless' Invited to Brussels Fantastic Film Festival

The movies "The Host" by director Bong Joon-ho and "The Restless" by director Jo Dong-oh have been invited to compete in the international category of the 2007 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, according to Pusan International Film Festival Senior Programmer Kim Ji-seok on March 18. The Brussels Fantastic Film Festival will be held in Belgium April 5-17. Other Korean movies that have been invited to participate in the non-competition category include Lee Si-myeong's "Vampire Cop Ricky", Jo Beom-jin's "Aachi And Ssipak", Ahn Byeong-ki's "A.P.T" and Lim Ah-ron's "Mug Travel". The festival is regarded as one of the world's top-three fantastic film festivals along with Spain's Sitges Film Festival and Portugal's Oporto International Film Festival. Previous award winners of the festival from Korea include Kim Ki-duk's movie "The Isle" and Jang Joon-hwan's "Save the Green Planet".