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Korea Herald
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Jeonju film fest opens 26th edition
10-day cinema showcase in Jeonju features 80 world premieres JEONJU, North Jeolla Province — The Jeonju International Film Festival kicked off its 26th edition Wednesday, with 224 films from 57 countries scheduled to screen across multiple venues in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, during its 10-day run through May 9. The festival's opening ceremony at the Sori Arts Center drew film enthusiasts who filled the venue hours before the event. The red carpet welcomed an array of film professionals, including actor Lee Jung-hyun, who is the festival's "programmer of the year," former Wonder Girls member-turned-actor Ahn So-hee and director Bae Chang-ho, known for his 1987 hit romance "Our Joyful Young Days." Actors Kim Shin-rock and Seo Hyun-woo, who have both previously appeared in films screened at the festival, hosted the ceremony. In their welcoming remarks, executive committee co-directors Min Sung-wook and Jung Jun-ho spoke about the festival's focus on independent cinema and experimental approaches. The festival presented a posthumous special achievement award to screenwriter Song Gil-han, a Jeonju native who died in December. His son, Song Geun-su, accepted the award and became visibly emotional as he shared memories of his late father. "When my father was on his deathbed with occasional bouts of delirium, he often thought of the hospital room as Jeonju, and everything he said was related to film," the Song said. "If he were here today, he'd tell everyone to keep their heads up and press on." Following organizing committee chair and Jeonju Mayor Woo Beom-ki's official declaration opening the festival, singer-actor Kim Pureum, who stars in two films screening at the festival — "Save" and "Clear"— delivered the opening performance. Ahead of the evening's opening ceremony, festival organizers held a special press screening of the opening film, Romanian director Radu Jude's "Kontinental '25," followed by a press conference with the film's lead actors. Set in Cluj, Romania, the smartphone-shot drama follows a bailiff experiencing a moral crisis in the aftermath of a homeless man's death upon being forced out of a shelter. The film won the Silver Bear for best screenplay at February's Berlin International Film Festival. "'Kontinental '25' is a bold film shot on smartphone that reflects what kinds of images suit our era," co-director Min Sung-wook said during the postscreening press conference. "We're pleased to introduce it as an alternative film freed from constraints typically imposed on large-scale productions, which aligns with Jeonju IFF's identity of seeking alternatives since its inception." The film's lead actor Eszter Tompa, who plays an ethnic Hungarian bailiff in Romania, described working with Jude as "a wonderful experience." "We had a long preparation meeting online since we live in different cities," Tompa said during the press conference. "After preparation, the shooting was very short — about 12 days, very fast. He knows exactly what he wants." The press conference touched on the ethnic tensions that form a key theme in the film, with a Hungarian journalist asking about Romanian-Hungarian relations. Tompa, who is Hungarian and divides her time between Berlin and Cluj, responded by noting recent political developments. "After we finished shooting, there have been elections and the extreme right is rising in Romania now," she said. "The film is not exaggerating, and it's really severe what's happening. The far right is rising in the whole of Europe." Eighty films will make their world premieres at Jeonju. A special section titled "Again, Towards Democracy" will present six documentaries examining the erosion of democratic institutions and governance worldwide, offering reflections on contemporary political challenges. The festival concludes May 9 with the documentary "In the Land of Machines," from director Kim Ok-young, which follows three Nepali migrant workers in South Korea.
Korea Herald
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Jeonju Intl. Film Fest kicks off 26th edition with 224 films
The Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea's premier platform for indie and art house cinema, kicks off Wednesday featuring 224 films from 57 countries. The 26th edition of the annual festival will begin its 10-day run with an opening ceremony at 6:30 p.m. at the Sori Arts Center in Jeonju, located about 190 kilometers south of Seoul. Following the ceremony, the Romanian film "Kontinental '25," directed and written by Radu Jude, will open the festival, JIFF said. The comedy-drama film depicts the moral crisis a bailiff suffers after a homeless man she tries to evict commits suicide. It won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in February. JIFF will conclude with the Korean documentary film "In the Land of Machines," directed by Kim Ok-young. The film follows the lives of three migrant workers from Nepal employed in South Korea. Throughout the festival, 224 movies will be screened across Jeonju. Among them, 80 films will have their global premieres at the festival. A special section focusing on democracy will feature six films that examine political upheaval around the world, offering reflections on South Korea's recent political crisis following impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief imposition of martial law. The "J Special: Programmer of the Year" section, now in its fifth year, features actress Lee Jung-hyun. She has selected three films to present: Park Chan-wook's "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," Hirokazu Koreeda's "Nobody Knows" and the Dardenne brothers' "L'Enfant." JIFF will also screen works featuring the actress, including her debut movie, "A Petal" (1996). (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Jeonju film fest unveils full selection under 'beyond the frame' banner
Korea's premier indie film festival returns with 224 films from 57 countries amid global political uncertainty The Jeonju International Film Festival unveiled its lineup for its 26th edition Tuesday at Seoul's CGV Yongsan, showcasing 224 films from 57 countries under the slogan "Beyond the Frame." Opening the festival is Romanian director Radu Jude's "Kontinental '25." The Berlin Silver Bear winner follows a woman who starts to question societal norms after witnessing an unexpected death. Shot entirely on smartphones, the film embodies what programmer Moon Sung-kyung called "the pioneering spirit of the festival, which has been breaking away from conventional film formats." The closing film, "In the Land of Machines," marks Kim Ok-young's directorial debut after 40 years as a documentary writer. It follows three Nepali migrant workers in Korea who contributed to a poetry collection titled "This Is the City of Machines," offering an outsider's gaze into Korea's mechanized labor systems through poetic language. Among this year's diverse sections, "Again, Towards Democracy" stands out as a particularly timely addition examining recent challenges to democratic institutions across the globe. The program features six documentaries exploring political turmoil worldwide, including "The Last Republican," which follows Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger after he voted to impeach President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, and "At This Moment, in the Nation's Sky," a chronicle of Brazil's contested election and subsequent storming of government buildings. "Since Dec. 3, 2024, South Korea's democracy has faced a crisis, with ongoing chaos and aftermath," said programmer Chun Jin-soo, referring to President Yoon Seok Yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law. "We assembled this special section to reflect on similar democratic crises around the world that may feel all too familiar to us now." Actress Lee Jung-hyun, featured as this year's "J Special Programmer," curated a personal selection of films for the festival. The versatile performer, who debuted at 15 in Jang Sun-woo's "A Petal" (1996) before becoming a pop star and later returning to acting, selected six works to screen, including three she appeared in and three from international directors she admired. Her selections include Park Chan-wook's "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," which she considers his "best work" despite its commercial failure. "It's aesthetically and visually flawless, a film that expanded my perspective on cinema," Lee said. She also chose the Dardenne brothers' "The Child" and Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Nobody Knows." Reflecting on revisiting "A Petal" after decades, Lee said, "I couldn't watch it at 15. The filming was incredibly difficult — I got hurt repeatedly during shoots because I couldn't act properly." She credited Park Chan-wook with helping her to appreciate the film years later, calling it "a poetic, intense expression of Gwangju's pain" — a reference to the film's harrowing depiction of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and subsequent military massacre. Lee will also debut her directorial short "Toe-Tapping Tunes" in the festival's Korean Cinema section. "Since my twenties as a singer, I've always dreamed of directing one day," she said. The film follows a woman raising money for her dying mother's hospital bills while dealing with her own congenital condition. The festival continues its tradition of embracing challenging films despite budget constraints affecting Korean cinema. Executive Committee co-Director and veteran actor Jung Jun-ho stressed that with support from sponsors and Jeonju City, they've maintained program scale to "showcase the achievements and values of independent cinema." The 26th Jeonju International Film Festival will take place from April 30 to May 9 across multiple venues in Jeonju's cinema district in North Jeolla Province.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Timestamp' Review: Powerful Ukrainian Documentary Captures Both Pain and Resilience of Children During Wartime
When one pictures a war, it's mostly scenes of blood, guts and glory. But wars, including major ones like the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, don't usually happen throughout the whole land. There are established frontlines and battlefields, buffer zones and areas that have been temporarily evacuated. Meanwhile, the rest of the country tries to go on living: The elderly stay at home, adults head off to work and children keep going to school. The latter group are the focus of Kateryna Gornostai's powerful new documentary, Timestamp (Strichka Chasu), which chronicles how Ukraine's educational system functions in the midst of a full-scale invasion. Capturing scenes of school life on all levels, from kindergartners all the way to high-school seniors, the movie highlights the resilience of students who continue to press on as their country defends itself, and teachers trying to make the most of a catastrophic situation. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Holding Liat' Review: Emotional Darren Aronofsky-Produced Israeli Hostage Doc Doesn't Shy Away From a Complex Situation 'Kontinental '25' Review: Romanian Auteur Radu Jude Delivers Another Caustic Modern Morality Tale 'After This Death' Review: Mía Maestro and Lee Pace in a Dud Follow-Up to Lucio Castro's Transfixing 'End of the Century' Eschewing classic talking-head interviews or archive footage from news reports, Gornostai's approach recalls the work of Frederick Wiseman and other documentarians whose methods are much more about showing than telling. While onscreen titles detail the names of cities and their respective distances from the front, the rest of Timestamp simply immerses us in various settings, observing kids of different ages doing the things kids tend to do in school: study, play, learn, hang out and get bored. But nothing is normal in a country mobilized for battle, and Gornostai reveals the different ways Ukrainians have adapted since Russia invaded back in February 2022. Classes closer to battle lines are taught via Zoom, while those farther away can go on like before, though they often get interrupted by air raid sirens driving everyone underground. In one sequence, an art teacher has transformed a basement into a colorful studio for students learning to paint and draw. Elsewhere, an entire subway platform has become a makeshift schoolhouse, complete with blackboards, desks and learning material. Because the war has been going on so long, the children appear to be unfazed, though every so often we focus on a kid who's clearly been traumatized. In one unforgettable scene, a little girl heads into her school library for a reading session, only to break down when she sees a photo of her dead father alongside portraits of other fallen soldiers. And yet minutes later she's managed to pick out a book and get to work. Timestamp reveals many things during its captivating two hours, and one of them is that kids — even those who've been through hell — have short memories, which is what helps them to keep going. As for the teenagers, they're growing up in a war-torn country where they may be next in line for the draft. High schoolers are taught how to fire rifles or apply tourniquets to wounds — the film's title refers to a timestamp measuring how long human tissue has been deprived of blood — and many see a future in which they'll soon be fighting themselves. But they're also just trying to be regular teens, making TikTok videos with friends or practicing dance routines for a graduation ceremony that closes the movie. Gornostai and cameraman Oleksandr Roshchyn capture these moments in gracefully composed widescreen shots filled with youthful bodies, whether its preschoolers scurrying down to a bomb shelter or adolescents shooting hoops in a gym that's been partially destroyed. The orchestral and choral score by Alexey Shmurak adds an epic quality to the imagers, as if we were watching the birth of a new nation rising like a phoenix from the ashes. Indeed, there's an undoubtedly nationalistic aspect to Timestamp, fostered by scenes of students singing patriotic hymns or saluting the dead during moments of silence, as well as in the lessons teachers give them about Ukrainians bravely resisting Russian invaders. (One can only imagine what's being taught in schools on the opposing side.) Such patriotism, whether you like it or not, is another facet of a long and devastating conflict that has altered so many lives when it hasn't completely wrecked them. And yet Gornostai's absorbing portrait is ultimately one of promise: of the durability of children who keep persisting despite awful circumstances, and of a time when they'll no longer have to do so. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The Best Anti-Fascist Films of All Time Dinosaurs, Zombies and More 'Wicked': The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025 From 'A Complete Unknown' to 'Selena' to 'Ray': 33 Notable Music Biopics
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Holding Liat' Review: Emotional Darren Aronofsky-Produced Israeli Hostage Doc Doesn't Shy Away From a Complex Situation
It's impossible to know how you would react if a major historical tragedy were to befall your family. Would you tune everything out to focus entirely on your personal misfortunes, doing all you can to make things better for your loved ones? Or would you also try, if the circumstance permitted, to see things within a broader context, questioning how such a tragedy managed to happen in the first place? This is the dilemma at the heart of the politically potent and emotionally gripping new documentary Holding Liat, which follows two elderly parents facing the kidnapping of their daughter during the Hamas attack of October 7th, 2023. Offering a rare look at all the backdoor lobbying, moral questioning and endless waiting involved in an affair that lasted for nearly two months, director Brandon Kramer does an impressive job revealing the personal and geopolitical aspects of a heartbreaking true story. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Kontinental '25' Review: Romanian Auteur Radu Jude Delivers Another Caustic Modern Morality Tale 'After This Death' Review: Mía Maestro and Lee Pace in a Dud Follow-Up to Lucio Castro's Transfixing 'End of the Century' 'Late Shift' Review: Gripping Drama Revolves Around an Extraordinary Leonie Benesch as an Overworked and Tireless Nurse The film, which premiered in Berlin's Forum sidebar, manages to both voice criticisms of the Israeli government and its fervent supporters, and remain compassionate toward the victims of a massacre whose repercussions are still being felt across the world. At a time when people feel obliged to choose which side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict they stand on, Holding Liat takes a thoughtful middle ground that exposes the situation without exploiting it. Whether an American distributor will want to touch such a divisive hot potato is another question, but Kramer's movie certainly merits attention. Forty-nine-year-old history teacher Liat Beinin Atzili and her husband, Aviv, were residents of the Nir Oz kibbutz when Hamas militants pierced the border on October 7th, killing over a thousand Israelis and taking hundreds of others hostage. The documentary begins a few weeks after the attack, when Liat's retired parents, Yehuda and Chaya, are desperately searching for news on their daughter and son-in-law. As a pair of Americans who emigrated to Israel in the 1970s, where they raised Liat and her younger sister, Tal, the Beinins find their lives completely upended when we first encounter them. While Chaya stays back home to be with the rest of her family, Yehuda soon heads off to Washington, D.C., where he joins other parents and relatives to lobby for the hostages' release. It's clear from the get-go that Yehuda is not an admirer of Benjamin Netanyahu and the current Israeli regime, and he certainly doesn't fit the cliché of a flag-waving Zionist. Decked out in a 'Good Morning Vietnam' t-shirt and sporting a Bernie bumper sticker on his car, he's a devout leftist who came to Israel hoping to settle into a country filled with socialist Kibbutzim, only to find it ruled decades later by a coalition of religious fundamentalists and far-right zealots, with a corrupt leader at the top. While in Washington, Yehuda tries to coerce senators and congresspeople into negotiating with Hamas for the handover of Liat and Aviv, although the latter's whereabouts remain unknown. Outspoken and refusing to cater to the faction he's stuck with, Yehuda can't help opening his mouth and getting into trouble. 'We're being led by crazy people, whether on the Israeli or Palestinian side,' he complains, while everyone keeps telling him to play the emotional angle, not the political one. This includes his daughter, Tal, who has a hard time dealing with her father's refusal to kowtow to politicians. 'Do you think I wanted to meet Mitch McConnell, that fucking asshole?!' she yells at him, in a scene that would make for good Jewish comedy if the situation weren't so tragic. Especially sad is the case of Netta, one of Liat's three children, who survived the attack. He's been severely impacted by what happened, and unlike his grandfather doesn't what to talk about Bibi or Gaza. There's a scene in which he's sitting with Yehuda in the back of a car after a fundraising event, and the two are unable to speak to each other. The chasm between them seems to reflect the greater chasm separating several generations of Israelis — from the old left-wing idealists like Yehuda to their teenage grandchildren, who have grown up in a fractured world that's made them more fatalistic. Kramer focuses on these moments in the early part of Holding Liat, offering a lucid portrait of a family divided by a conflict that hits them directly as it echoes across the globe. The second half of the film, which isn't worth spoiling for the emotional weight it carries, shifts from the political to the personal as Yehuda, Chaya, their children and grandchildren cope with the realities of the disaster. If there are moments where Kramer definitely turns on the waterworks, with a score by Jordan Dykstra (20 Days in Mariupol) amplifying the impact of such scenes, the movie remains a more even-handed account of events relative to so much out there, whether on TV or social media. Especially poignant is a closing scene set at Israel's Holocaust museum Yad Vashem, in which the film attempts to draw a link between the walls erected around the Warsaw Ghetto and those dividing Gaza from neighboring Israel. Some will no doubt find the comparison controversial, but for the Beinin family, it's a reality they've now experienced first-hand, and one they continue to grapple with as life inevitably goes on. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The Best Anti-Fascist Films of All Time Dinosaurs, Zombies and More 'Wicked': The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025 From 'A Complete Unknown' to 'Selena' to 'Ray': 33 Notable Music Biopics
