Korean Films Attack the Big Apple

Korean cinema will take a big bite of the Big Apple as the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) begins Friday. The festival will feature more than 30 works from the East, of which almost a third are Korean. The event will take place at the IFC Center until July 5 and at Japan Society July 5 - 8.

``A 17-day-long festival will feature films from Park Chan-wook, Johnnie To, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. This year's festival will introduce you to buffalo-busting action flicks from Thailand, cartilage-cracking gangster films from Korea, and the first gore flick ever made in Pakistan!" the festival said in a statement.

Dubbed ``one of the city's most valuable events'' by the New York Times, the film festival is America's leading showcase for Asian movies. Launched in 2002 by Subway Cinema, the festival has featured over 100 films from China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.

This year, Ryoo Seong-wan's old school action-packed ``The City of Violence'' (2006) and gangster films ``Cruel Winter Blues'' (2006) by Lee Jeong-bum and ``The Show Must Go On'' (2007) by Han Jae-rim starring Song Kang-ho (``The Host,'' 2006) will entertain audiences with kicks and blows.

Love will conquer all in director Park Chan-wook's (``Old Boy,'' 2003) quirky romance movie ``I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK'' (2006) starring pop star Rain and Kim Dai-seung's heartbreaking drama ``Traces of Love'' (2006) starring Yoo Ji-tae (``Old Boy'').

Youn JK's kick-butt comedy ``Miracle on 1st Street'' (2007), Joe Beom-jin's grotesque animation ``Aachi & Ssipak'' (2006), E. J-yong's teen sex comedy ``Dasepo Naughty Girls'' (2006) and science-fiction ``Never Belongs to Me'' (2005) by cult filmmaker Nam Ki-woong will surely bring many laughs.

Each year, the film festival draws thousands of local fans and in 2006 some 9,000 people attended. The audience votes for one film to be crowned the NYAFF Audience Award. Korea's box-office smash ``My Sassy Girl'' (2001) and ``Please Teach Me English'' (2003) won the heart of viewers in 2002 and 2004 respectively.

This year's key feature is Korea's Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival (MGFF) lineup. The Asian festival has partnered with MGFF for the first time to bring award-winning horror, comedy, melodrama, science fiction and action short films

Presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Service New York, the shorts were selected by MGFF's committee/jury members, including directors Park Chan-Wook, Ryoo Seung-wan and E. J-yong.

The 6th Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival will take place in Korea June 27-July 3 at multiplex theater CGV Yongsan, central Seoul.

For more information about the New York Asian Film Festival and tickets, visit www.nyaff.org. To learn more about the Mise-en-scene's Genres Film Festival, visit www.mgff.org.

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter