As previously announced, actress Gu Hye-sun took a second stab at directing with a short (1-minute) trailer for the 7th Asiana International Short Film Festival, which was released on October 20. This follows her directorial debut, a short film about euthanasia called The Madonna [aka The Cheerful Caretaker, 유쾌한 도우미].

This AISFF trailer will be shown before each screening at the festival, which will take place from November 5 through 10. Watch the video below.

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Read the rest of Gu Hye-sun’s film festival trailer (135 words)

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Post tags: directors, film festivals, Gu Hye-sun, short films

Actress Im Soo-jung (Happiness, I’m a Cyborg But It’s Okay) has just wrapped filming on a Thai short film at the end of August, called Phuket.

The plot of Phuket features the movie star playing a movie star; her “Jin” character is a famous Korean actress who grows tired of her life and heads for a vacation in search of rest; she makes for Phuket, a place that holds fond memories of her youth. There, she happens to strike up a friendship with an ordinary, middle-aged hotel limousine driver. Her co-star is veteran Thai actor Sorapong Chatree.

Directing the short is Thai filmmaker Aditya Assarat, whose previous short films (Motorcycle, Waiting, Wonderful Town) have won various awards. He said of Im Soo-jung, “She’s an actress I really wanted to work with, who is very introspective and rich in sensitivity. I have seen all of Im Soo-jung’s films, and she has a magical sort of acting ability that is natural and also draws you in powerfully.”

Phuket will screen at this year’s Pusan International Film Festival in October. Im Soo-jung, meanwhile, has another film scheduled for release later this year, Jeon Woo Chi co-starring Kang Dong-won.

Via E Daily

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Post tags: Im Soo-jung, short films

Boys Before Flowers actress Gu Hye-sun‘s directorial debut is screening at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, or PiFan, which opened last week and closes this weekend. The film, translated literally as The Cheerful Caretaker [유쾌한 도우미], also goes by the English title The Madonna.

The short clocks in at 14 minutes and also screened at the Busan Asian Short Film Festival in May, where it brought home the Audience Award. At PiFan, Gu Hye-sun spoke about making the film and her intentions behind writing a story that deals with the topics of death and euthanasia (mercy killing), as a man seeks relief in the church. She explained, “I didn’t want to make it a story about morality or euthanasia, but about a person’s choice.”

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Read the rest of Director Gu Hye-sun talks about her film at PiFan (432 words)

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Post tags: directors, Gu Hye-sun, short films

I’ve been talking about the short queer film Boy Meets Boy for a while now, and it’s finally being released.

The nearly wordless short film, starring Kim Hye-sung (Unstoppable High Kick) and Lee Hyun-jin (Kimchi Cheese Smile) as 18-year-old high school students, is billed as a queer romance about first love, and bears the tag “based on a true story.”

The film held its press conference on November 5, and will have a theater release in six theaters — unusual for a short — starting on November 20, which will also feature a segment on the making of the film. (Because it won’t be shown with other shorts, the ticket price is also lower, at about half the price of regular movie tickets.)

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Read the rest of Boy Meets Boy in theaters soon (167 words)

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Post tags: Kim Hye-sung, Kim Jo Gwang-soo, Lee Hyun-jin, short films

On October 5, the short film Boy Meets Boy held an open discussion at the Pusan International Film Festival with its stars Kim Hye-sung (Jenny, Juno) and Yeh Ji-won (Mixed-up Investigative Agency) and director Kim Jo Kwang Su.

I remember being intrigued when I first heard about Boy Meets Boy [소년, 소년을 만나다], which marks Kim Hye-sung’s departure from his family-friendly image in Unstoppable High Kick. His early career had been marked by an emphasis on his pretty face more than anything (he rose to fame as an internet uljjang with thousands of fans, got a couple movies, and then the hit sitcom High Kick), but he seems to have a grounded perspective of his fame (as he explained in the interview linked above).

Not only is he portraying half of a gay romance in the short film, the narrative is expressed without dialogue — the director opted instead to tell the story mostly in the characters’ gazes.

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Read the rest of Boy Meets Boy at PIFF (364 words)

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Post tags: film festivals, Kim Hye-sung, Lee Hyun-jin, press conferences, short films, Yeh Ji-won

The debut directing project for actress Gu Hye-sun — currently starring in KBS’s Strongest Chil Woo — now has a name, thanks to CEO Jung Seung-hye of Morning [아침] film studio. Jung had suggested the title The Cheerful Caretaker [유쾌한 도우미], which Gu Hye-sun liked and has now adopted. The short film tackling the subject of euthanasia creates a bit of a macabre undertone with its deceptively, well, cheerful title, doesn’t it?

Jung — who has been involved in such hit projects as The King and the Clown and Radio Star — has followed Gu’s progress closely in her debut project, but explains that her involvement doesn’t overshadow her protégé’s — she’s given first-time director plenty of room to work on her own.

Their acquaintance began when Gu Hye-sun first met Jung in 2004 at an informal event; in 2006, Gu took a screenplay she’d written to Jung and asked her to take a look. The film exec soon showed her support for her, calling her “Screenwriter Gu Hye-sun”: “Gu Hye-sun has undertaken the writing, art design, and other aspects all on her own. I believe she’ll become a director on par with those working now.”

Obviously I can’t judge for myself, but I kinda dig her choice of material — not that I love euthanasia, but she didn’t go for fluff, that’s for sure — and the cognitive dissonance in contrasting the title and topic.

Via Hankooki.com

SONG OF THE DAY

Taru – “Yesterday.” Taru (real name Kim Min-young) is the vocalist for pop-indie band The Melody, and recently came out with her solo album, which is where this track is from. [ Download ]

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Post tags: directors, Gu Hye-sun, scriptwriters, short films

Actor-director Yoo Ji Tae (Oldboy, Hwang Jini) has had a rather successful run with his recent short film Out of My Intention, which just won a special contribution award at the Short Shorts Film Festival (SSFF), in its Asian category. The Tokyo-based film festival is one of the biggest short film festivals in the world (and is one of the qualifying festivals for the Academy Awards). This year, the festival selected 80 films to screen from nearly 3,000 submissions.

Out of My Intention is Yoo’s latest of three short films, all of which screened at SSFF. Last year he was a judge in the competition section; this year he was invited as a special seminar guest. The festival explained that Yoo’s award was given upon recognizing his passion in his work and his “wonderful contribution” to Asia’s short film industry.

Out of My Intention was released for a theatrical run in Korea in March, and continues to the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival in Seoul, which opens on June 26, where it will be entered in the competition section. (Yoo’s debut short, 2003′s Bicycle Boy, earned him recognition as a director, and his second, 2005′s How Do the Blind Dream, won an award at the 23rd Pusan Asian Short Film Festival.)

Star News, Newsen

SONG OF THE DAY

Nell – “섬” (island) [ Download ]

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Post tags: directors, film festivals, short films, Yoo Ji-tae

Gu Hye Sun joins actors like Yoo Ji Tae in expanding her resume to film directing. Her debut project is the short film Gaze [시선], which starts filming on June 2 in Gangwon-do, and boasts a pretty large scale for this kind of work: approximately 50 crew members and name casting which includes sageuk actor Kim Myung Su, Seo Hyun Jin of the kpop group MILK, and Ha Jiwon’s younger brother Jeon Tae Su. There will also be cameos by other famous actors.

The 35mm film, written by Gu Hye Sun, will be approximately 20 minutes long, and deals with euthanasia and human psychology, which seems like an unexpectedly dark issue to tackle in a debut film — no fluffy vanity project here, it seems.

Gu herself won’t be acting, focusing instead on the directing and even set design work; she’s mentioned her desire to direct since her early debut days and was an art major at school. Her next acting role will instead come in the upcoming fusion sageuk drama Strongest Chil Woo (Choi Kang Chil Woo) which also stars Eric, Lee Eon, and Kim Byul.

Via Newsen

SONG OF THE DAY

Vistee – “Snow Cry.” Vistee is a fairly new three-member group that shares a sound with other electronica groups like House Rulez and Shibuya-kei artist FreeTEMPO. [ Download ]

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Post tags: directors, Gu Hye-sun, scriptwriters, short films

• Actor-cum-director Yoo Ji Tae‘s third directorial endeavor (and first theater release, more here), short film Out of My Intention, held its press conference on the 4th. Though it’s unusual for a short to get a theatrical run, Out of My Intention will open on the 20th and screen for a week at Seoul’s art-house cinema Sponge House.
• Former Jewelry singer turned actress Lee Ji Hyun has just released fresh self-cam photos online. Aw, is someone feeling left out now that the new Jewelry is in the spotlight for their latest album?
• Former HOT member and solo singer Kang Ta may be headed for military service on April 1, but he’ll be cramming in some last-minute singerly duties, releasing a new album and holding a concert on the 29th. It’s his first album in three years and first concert in five.
• Pop star Boa continues to rule Japan’s Oricon music charts. Her newly released album, “The Face,” shot to the top of album sales charts, making it the sixth time she’s occupied the #1 spot.



• Ballad singer Eru‘s father, famous trot (aka old-fogey pop) singer Tae Jin Ah, still wants his son to sing trot music. While Eru hasn’t yet succumbed to parental pressure, his second album featured a remake of one of his father’s songs, “Ok Kyung-ee,” in a fusiony ballad-jazzy-trot hybrid.
• Speaking of whom, Eru also confessed on an episode of Sang Sang Plus to being struck the first time he laid eyes on television announcer Choi Song Hyun (while watching her on a TV program). While guesting on a radio program (which put him through on a call to Choi), the writer handed him Choi’s phone number, which he “immediately programmed into [his] phone.” He describes himself as “simply a fan.”
• Misuda‘s (Global Talk Show, aka Chatting with Beauties) Uzbek panelist Jamilya (or Djamilya) Abdullaeva is one of those people constantly in the news these days that I find a waste of media attention. It’s nothing personal — who knows, she might be a super-sweet person — but it’s the weird cult of faux-celebrity surrounding Misuda that bugs me. In any case, she’s taking this springboard to fame and transitioning into pop singer. I suppose I could hold off on the cynicism, but really, do we have much to hope for from a girl who cites her own television show as her favorite, lists Hyori as her favorite Korean celeb, and debuts a single track titled “Oppa I Hate You”?

SONG OF THE DAY

Jamilya – “오빠 미워” (Oppa, I hate you). What an ear-screechingly horrible song. It’s like one of those pop-trance hits of the late ’90s, with none of the kitsch factor. If I clap my hands everybody, just clap my hands, will you stop? On the upside, her Korean’s pretty good. On the downside, her voice isn’t. [ zShare download ]

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Post tags: army duty, directors, Eru, Jewelry, Kang Ta, Misuda, news bites, short films, Yoo Ji-tae

Movie star Yoo Ji Tae is probably one of few Hallyu stars who’s got some international cachet outside of Korea or Asia due to acting in films like hipster favorites Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and the popular romantic drama Ditto. He was last seen in last year’s epic historical film version of Hwang Jini starring opposite Song Hye Gyo.

Now he takes a seat in the director’s chair for his first directorial release with the 24-minute short film Out of My Intention [나도 모르게] (he’s directed two prior shorts, 2003′s Bicycle Girl — which won an audience award at the Pusan Asia Short Film Festival — and 2005′s How Do the Blind Dream; this is his first theatrical release).

On March 4, Out of My Intention will hold its press conference in Myungdong in Seoul with Yoo and his leads Jo Ahn and Lee Dae Yeon. The film is described as centering on a man entering middle age who embarks on an arduous search for his first love from more than twenty years ago; the directing takes us “between past and present, reality and imagination.”

Via My Daily

SONG OF THE DAY

Lucid Fall – “노래할게” (I’ll Sing) [ zShare download ]

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Post tags: directors, short films, Yoo Ji-tae