Saturday, August 31, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: Fists of Legend / 전설의 주먹

My apprehension going into watch Fists of Legend was almost palpable. Billed
as a mixed martial arts melodrama that follows three middle-aged men take part in a televised fighting competition called ‘Legendary Punch’, the basis of which is that they used to go to school together and had reputations based on their fierce fighting skills, it’s difficult to figure out exactly who is the movies target demographic.


Furthermore, the MMA style that sporting competitions like UFC have made so popular has yet to really successfully transfer onto the big screen. While watching two sweaty men withering around on top of each other in an actual real match is exciting and dangerous, as you have no idea what’s going to happen, watching it in a movie takes away that immediacy, stripping it of any tension. Lacking the rhythm and flow of old school kung-fu or the kinetic energy of kickboxing, MMA in comparison comes across as stifled and almost boring, as can be witnessed in any of the countless straight-to-DVD Tapout movies.

Still, while Fists of Legend seems like a questionable proposition from a story standpoint, the talent behind the production can’t be denied. Helmed by reliable commercial director Kang Woo-seok (‘Public Enemy / 공공의 적’, ‘Silmido / 실미도’), the three characters themselves are played by the always enjoyable Hwang Jeong-min (‘The New World / 신세계’, ‘The Unjust / 부당거래’), Yoon Je-moon (‘Boomerang Family / 고령화가족’ – also showing at the Film Festival!), & Hang Song-soo favourite Yoo Joong-sang (‘The Day He Arrives / 북촌 방향’, ‘Nobody’s Daughter Haewon / 누구의 딸도 아닌 해원’).

Friday, August 30, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: My Paparotti / 파파로티




An essay of idolatry or perhaps an open love letter to Lee Je-Hoon would perhaps best describe the following review of My Paparotti. Late-comer; late bloomer, whatever you want to call him Lee Je-hoon is a face of current Korean cinema to watch! His versatility is notable for such a “young” actor. You reviled him as the enfant terrible come chaebol heir in Fashion King, you fell in love with him as camp and hopelessly-in-love Seok-I in Just Friends and your heart broke as his did in Architecture 101. Je-Hoon in My Paparotti commands your hope and your faith in the goodness of a person.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

KOFFIA Review 2013: Approved for Adoption / Couleur de Peau: Miel


“I come from here and elsewhere. I am neither white, nor black. The colour of my skin is honey.” -Jung Henin, Approved for Adoption




We all come from somewhere. We take it for granted that we may have the same shaped eyes as our mother, or the same eye colour as our grandmother; maybe the inherited eccentricities of our grandfather, or the physical frame of our father. However, for many of the 200 000 South Koreans who have been internationally adopted since the end of the Korean War, these simple and innocuous musings are relative unknowns.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Shin Su-won: A Late Bloomer

A Seoul National University graduate Shin Su-won studied scriptwriting at the Korea National University of Arts while teaching at a middle school. At the age of 34, she told her husband and children that she needed a change of direction, quit her job and enrolled.


Tuesday, August 27, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time / 범죄와의 전쟁

It's time to catch up with Old Boy favourite Min-sik Choi to see what trouble he's getting into now with Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time. This time we head back in time to the 1980s and 90s as he does a Walter White and gets mixed up in organised crime. Everything is set for disorder, pain and a few questionable haircuts.




Monday, August 26, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: The Berlin File / 베를린


Any news of Ryoo Seung-wan making a new movie is usually greeted by equal doses of excitement and anticipation from fans of Korean cinema, myself included. Once clumsily labeled as the Tarantino of Korea, outside of both directors love of paying homage to cinema of the past, there is little else to warrant comparing their work. After being influenced by the New Hollywood wave of the 1970s in his last movie ‘The Unjust / 부당거래’, for ‘The Berlin File’ Seung-wan said he wanted to make a spy action movie in the style of ‘The Bourne Identity’.



The production attracted an impressive cast, with the four starring roles going to Ha Jung-woo (‘Nameless Gangster / 범죄와의 전쟁 : 나쁜놈들 전성시대’, 'Project 577 / 577 프로젝트'), Han Seok-kyu (‘Paparoti / 파파로티’, ‘Eye for an Eye / 눈에는 눈 이에는 이’), Jeon Ji-hyun ('The Thieves / 도둑들', ‘My Sassy Girl / 엽기적인 그녀’), and Seung-wan’s brother & frequent collaborator Ryoo Seung-beom (‘No Mercy / 용서는 없다’, ‘Crying Fist / 주먹이 운다’). As for the action, another frequent Seung-wan collaborator, and arguably the most respected action director working in Korea today, Jeong Doo-hong (who took on the starring role in Seung-wan’s 2006 feature ‘City of Violence / 짝패’), came on board as the action director.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: Pieta / 피에타

“What is money? Life? Death?”- quote from the film, Pieta.

Director, Kim Ki-duk

If you are familiar with the director of Pieta, Kim ki-duk, you will be aware of the accolades his films have received internationally. Kim’s 18th film, Pieta, was recognised at the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012 and received the Golden Lion. Those who are brave enough to sit through the 104 minutes of challenging material, will be satisfied with the film’s awarded status. However, as is the case with any film that incorporates confronting and graphic material, the ability of the film to polarise views and reactions will not be a surprise.

Lee Jeong-jin as the sadistic Lee Kang-do
Pieta traces the sadistic, pitiless character, Lee Kang-do, played by Lee Jeong-jin; a relentlessly violent character who lives a solitary existence with no sign of family or friends. He works for loan sharks, who prey on the workshop owners in the industrial area of Cheongyecheon. With no concern for the situation of these workshop owners, who are trying to make ends meet, the loan sharks demand ten times the amount of a one month loan. Kang-do’s role does not stop at merely collecting money, it transgresses into the sadistic as he maims those who cannot repay their loans in order to file insurance claims for the handicap payout. There is an element of pathological violence that Kang-do exerts on the susceptible industrial workshop owners who cannot repay their loans, and he refuses to display any feeling or remorse towards his vulnerable victims.


Saturday, August 24, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: The Tower / 타워

The big budget glossy film fans will be happy when 'The Tower' screens at KOFFIA 2013. Getting into the Christmas in July spirit of things it's a family drama with light hearted comedic moments that belie the coming disaster.

Good for people new to Korean cinema. 'The Tower' is the type of film that is accessible but not easily seen in an Australian cinemaplex. The film drew huge audiences with its opening day box office only second to 'The Thieves' (also being shown at the festival).

Friday, August 23, 2013

Why You Should Watch Films at KOFFIA 2013 and Not at Home

Someone I know once declared: "150 inch projector and a bunch of blu-rays is my film festival." He is wrong. Here's why.

The better screen and sound. See Gladiator's opening scene on a big screen? The small screen version doesn't compare.  You don't feel every hit in a battle scenes like you do on the big screen and there are plenty of hits in Fists of Legend.  The sound at the start of the music documentary Made of Stone about the Stone Roses was astounding. And we didn't have to worry about turning the sound down in case it bothered the neighbours. There's some great music to be heard in the 9 Muses of Star Empire documentary. 

Nothing like seeing a film with a full house!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: Masquerade / 광해: 왕이 된 남자



When I first came across Choo Chang-min’s Masquerade, it was on a fourteen-hour flight from Singapore to Helsinki, I had only been exposed once before to Korean period film - a previous experience with A Frozen Flower, was I really up for another film spoken in Middle Korean (중세국어)? Boy, I did not know what was coming!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Moon Byoung-gon: A new found talent

Moon Byoung-gon won the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes International Film Festival for his film Safe. The first Korean to win the honour. He was quite surprised at the award as he didn't even know he could win a prize. Safe is a grim portrait of a man addicted to gambling and a female college student who steals money from her work place.

Moon studied film at Chung-Ang University in Seoul graduating in 2011 and has directed two shorts ― No More Coffee Break (2008) and Finis Operis (2011). The fantasy short Finis Operis, a portrait of an aging man living a secluded life, was featured at Cannes in its International Critics’ Section in 2011. Through the not-so-short school period he experienced many aspects of the film industry, Finis Operis was his graduation film and he got to be the first Korean student to be invited to La Semaine de la Critique du Festival de Cannes. Liking to show the irony of life through stories, he is now developing in feature film.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: Architecture 101 / 건축학개론

“We were all someone’s first love/우리는 모두 누군가의 첫사랑이었다.”
- Slogan from Architecture 101 promotion poster

One’s first love is a moment in life that tends to trigger polarised reactions when people are asked about it: either you have fond recollections of time spent together with your sweetheart experiencing the sensations of love for the first time, or you are reminded of a dark point in your life. Unrequited love, acrimonious breakups… in any case it is a topic that remains personal for all of us.


Architecture 101, directed by Lee Yong-joo, will take you back to a time of youthful bliss juxtaposed with midlife crises and subsequent indecisiveness. It also provides a concise insight into Korean university culture and the restless days of one’s youth. Given the movie’s success in the Korean box office, many viewers in their 30s and 40s were able to experience nostalgia over the 118-minute screening and liked its primary topic.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Kim Kko-bbi: The Breathless Flower

While Kim Kko-bbi’s name, which literally translates to ‘flower rain’, may not be as familiar to fans of Korean cinema as some of her contemporaries, her performances certainly should be.

Although she’s been on the Korean movie scene for over ten years, it was her performance in Yang Ik-june’s 2008 feature ‘Breathless / 똥파리’ which brought her to most peoples attention, including myself. The movie, starring the director himself in the main role as a violent debt collector with a traumatic family history, quickly became a festival hit through word of mouth. Ik-june plays a character seemingly hell bent on inflicting pain on everything and everyone he come across, brutishly violent with a vocabulary to match, he appears to have no redeeming qualities at all, until he accidentally crosses paths with spunky schoolgirl Yeon-hee, played by Kko-bbi.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Kim Yoon-seok: The Everyman Anti-Hero

When people think of leading man material, the image of someone who looks slightly world weary, is into the later half of his 40’s, and seemingly appeared from nowhere, probably isn’t what springs to mind for most people. However Korean actor Kim Yoon-seok has found himself in just that position, and it’s one that for anyone who’s seen his performances, is very much deserved.

Yoon-seok started his acting life on the stage, having been trained as a member of the highly regarded Theater Yeonwoo Company, before making his stage debut in 1988 in a Korean version of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, the movie that made Marlon Brando famous well over 30 years before. He stayed in the world of theatre for many years, before making the gradual transition to movie and TV roles, one of the first of which was a supporting part in director Choi Dong-hoon’s 2003 movie ‘The Big Swindle’ (범죄의 재구성). 

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Ryoo Seung-ryong: Miracles & Masquerades

When you’re a leading man in Korean cinema, you might get a starring role every couple of years and quite possibly be type-cast in the type of role that you play, such is the danger of modern cinema. However, sometimes playing a supporting part to the main star can be a more attractive option – if done right, you could have more acting opportunities, more variety of roles to choose from, and more chances to experience working with a variety of other performers and directors.

Such is the case for Ryoo Seung-ryong, although rarely the leading man, chances are if you’re a fan of Korean cinema you’ll have seen him in at least a couple of movies. Born in 1970, he began his acting career on stage performing in a musical at just fifteen. Seung-ryong, like his contemporary Kim Yoon-seok, would remain a theater actor for much of his career, and didn’t make the transition to the big screen until later in life.

That transition came with a small part in the 2004 movie ‘Someone Special / 아는여자’, and set him on a path to star in more than thirty movies in a period of less than ten years – an impressive achievement by anyone’s standards. Despite my own interest in Korean cinema also dating back over ten years, the first time I got to see Seung-ryong onscreen wasn’t until 2009. After flying under the radar for so long, 2009 was a year that I seemingly couldn’t get away from him.

First of all I saw him as the head of a secret government agency in the action comedy 'My Girlfriend is an Agent / 7급 공무원', which was then followed by his turn as a bumbling reporter in the Doenjang jigae mystery 'The Recipe / 된장', and to top it all off he also had a central role as a North Korean agent in the only K-drama to this day that I’ve watched through to the very end, ‘IRIS / 아이리스’. The ironic thing is though that he was such a versatile and adept actor, that at the time I didn’t even realize it was the same actor in all three productions.

Friday, August 16, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "The Worst Best Friend" with Benny Lee

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Benny Lee below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!



1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
I’ve harboured a love for filmmaking and cinema since as long as I could remember. My earliest memories are snippets of men fighting in Chinese martial arts films as my dad worked as a projectionist. The first film I remember in its entirety was James Cameron’s Terminator 2. I still remember the feeling of awe as I watched what was happening in front of me. I remember thinking I want to create worlds and characters that will make other people feel what I’m feeling now. Having goals and dreams are great and all but I never really took steps to make that dream come true. I really have to thank my friends who kicked my ass and harassed me enough to actually take the first step – making my first short film. They’re the reason I joined this competition. 

Thursday, August 15, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "Vincents Guilt II Bullet Blues" with Dee Choi

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Dee Choi below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!


1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
I’ve always been interested in filmmaking but only actively began pursuing it once I saw “10 minute film school” by Robert Rodriguez on Youtube.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "Next Stop Seoulywood" with Matthew Rooke

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Matthew Rooke below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!



1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? 
KOFFIA is such a tight ship and a great festival, I wanted to b a part of it again. It’s a showcase of Korean Cinema excellence and what an honour to have a film of mine amongst such distinguished filmmaking. …oh yeah and the money! Why did you get into filmmaking? I got into filmmaking through music. Music has an emotion, an image has an emotion, and when put together the total potentially transcends their sum. Film & Video is 25 such potential moments per second. 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "La Croyance" with Chase Lee

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Chase Lee below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!



1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
I was the screenplay writer/producer and main actor for “Remorse” in last year’s Korean Film Festival. I believe as an actor KOFFIA helps me grow as an actor/director. I am powered to present myself to a community that may be interested in working with me in the future. 

Monday, August 12, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "The Korean Butterfly" with Angela Lee

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Angela Lee below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!



1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
My inspiration came from my obsession with the Korean culture and how much I want to show it off. Between my peers and I, there was an initial plan to film a music video cover in the second half of the year just for fun and also as a potential entry for the k-pop dance competition. 

Sunday, August 11, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "Inevitable Paradox" with Hyun Shin

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Hyun Shin below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!


1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
I originally didn’t have any intentions to submit Inevitable Paradox but I felt that KOFFIA would be an ideal forum in which to share my work with others. The short answer as to why I got into filmmaking is that I was seeking a means to express myself and found film to be the most complete medium in which to do so. 

Saturday, August 10, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "Human Meat Factory" with Anna Han

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Anna Han below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!


1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
Hearing about a festival with Korean filmmakers in Australia was awesome, I love watching Korean films, they’re so honest and you get to see how unique the culture is. I got into films because I thought it was boring and dull for people to have the same career for their whole lives. When I’m making movies, I can be a sheep today, and a dinosaur tomorrow.

Friday, August 9, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "Double Truth" with Julius Lee

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Julius Lee below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!


1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
I joined the competition for a number of reasons. One of them was I felt the KOFFIA Short Film Competition was the ideal place to put forth my film which explores the subject of cultural diversity and the conflict it can produce. I’ve always wanted to enter one of my films into a competition and I felt Double Truth was the first film I made which I was confident with and did not hesitate to share with others. And recently I’ve wanted to learn more about my Korean heritage which I honestly did not take much interest in when I was younger. I want to learn more about the culture, the history, the people and its cinema which has grown in international appeal in recent years. 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "Asian Australian Gentleman" with Ezra Andres

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Ezra Andres below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!



1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
Originally after seeing an advertisement at my college for this short film competition I was going to convert one of my already written scripts (Romance/Drama) into Korean and pretty much set a challenge for myself. But time went by and I had class projects I had to focus on, during this time I was finalising and publishing ‘Asian Australian’, and it fit the criteria, so I thought why not! I got into film making at a young age, but until now I haven’t really been happy with what I’ve accomplished. I love to tell stories (especially romance/drama) so hopefully one day I’ll be able to work on a feature film in the genre. Whether it be English or even Korean, as long as it touches people and evokes their emotions, that’s what counts for me. 

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

KOFFIA Short Film Comp Interview: "0.5" with Richard Kim

Check out our exclusive interview with KOFFIA 2013 Short Film Competition finalist Richard Kim below! Buy your tickets to what will be an exciting short film session, screening August 25th in Sydney!



1. What / Who inspired you to join this competition? Why did you get into filmmaking? 
I have always wanted to participate in KOFFIA and in the short film competition, the opportunity only came about this year when I finally got off my behind. The inspiration came from those around me, they told me I wasn’t getting any younger so I figured that I really should start doing what I have always wanted to do; to make films. I suppose the moment I wanted to be a film director was when I watched Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan then the dream was solidified when I watched Park Chan Wook’s Oldboy but it was always a childish dream. That is, until I was 23 when I dropped out of my engineering degree and pursued media/film. My parents disowned me for a while. True story. 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: The Thieves / 도둑들

Director Choi Dong-hoon’s ‘The Thieves’ hit Korean cinemas in 2012 with a wallop, a globe trotting adventure consisting of an all-star Pan-Asian cast, it quickly became the most watched movie in Korean history. It was also responsible for sparking a lot of debate around if big Hollywood style blockbusters and Chinese co-productions are the way forward for Korean cinema, slowly leading to distinctly Korean flavoured mid-budget efforts becoming a thing of the past.

However take a step back from all the discussion
around what is and what isn’t the future of Korean cinema, and taken as what it is ‘The Thieves’ sets out to do exactly what it intended – provide two hours of unpretentious good spirited entertainment. Even with no details of the plot, I'm sure the cast alone was responsible for some of the ticket sales – Dong-hoon regulars Kim Yoon-seok (The Chaser추격자) & Kim Hye-soo (‘Tazza' 타짜) are joined by Lee Jong-jae (‘The New World' 신세계), Kim Hae-sook (‘Thirst' 박쥐), Kim Soo-hyun (‘Secretly Greatly' 은밀하게 위대하게), and making her Korean movie come-back Jun Ji-hyeon (‘The Berlin File' 베를린). Throw in Hong Kong movie legend Simon Yam ('Daisy' 데이지), Chinese actor Derek Tsang (‘Dream Home’), & Malaysian star Angelica Lee (‘The Eye’), and anyone who’s a fan of star watching should be more than happy.


Monday, August 5, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: 9 Muses of Star Empire / 나인뮤지스 오브 스타 엠파이어

42% of 10478 children surveyed by Daum, the Korean equivalent of Yahoo, in 2010 claimed that they wanted a career of being commoditised by their bosses and the masses, scrutinised by media agencies, endure endless hours of repetitive tasks and constant surveillance by their superiors. They wanted to be singers and performers in the entertainment industry. (Source)


K-Pop has thus far been the primary catalyst of Hallyu (한류; ‘Korean Wave’) with the rapid ascent of boy bands and girl groups performing their well crafted dance numbers to perfection on stage. As seen by the survey results, many dream of the idyllic Korean celebrity lifestyle of numerous live performances, appearances on TV shows and awards ceremonies. However, very few people know about events taking place behind the scenes; the directors thus serve a role to fill in that exact gap in knowledge.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Review: Hong Kil-dong / 홍길동 (1986)

To the western world, the name of Hong Kil-dong is no doubt an unfamiliar one, but in Korea, the hero of writer Heo Gyun’s 16th century novel is a well known folk legend in the same vein as England’s Robin Hood. The illegitimate son of a nobleman and one of his concubines, Hong Kil-dong was rejected by his own family due to his mixed blood of noble & peasant, and on his travels through the corrupt outside world, he robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.

Over the years Hong Kil-dong has appeared in many forms, in the 1960s his tale was told in two animated feature length movies, in the 1980s he returned in animated form, but this time in an updated science fiction setting, throughout the 1990s he was the star of a series of popular video games, 5 years ago he got his own K-drama series, and as recently as 2010 he even got his own musical, with Sungmin and Yesung of Super Junior playing the title character.




Saturday, August 3, 2013

KOFFIA 2013 Review: Whatcha Wearin'? / 나의 P.S. 파트너

How climactic is a climax if it’s formulaic? Refreshingly adult and with an openness often frowned upon in Korean culture, 'Whatcha Wearin'?' is a rom-com specifically designed to tease. You have every saccharine detail you’re expecting of the genre - a handsome lead and a beautiful damsel in distress, the emotional twists and turns and the almost always, happily-ever-after. However director Byun Sung-Hyun serves up romance, raunch and comedy in this film that tinkers with the boy-meets-girl formula.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Review: Comrade Kim Goes Flying / 김동무는 하늘을 난다 (2012)

There’s not too many Saturday nights when you get to visit the cinema for the purpose of watching a North Korean movie, but back in June on the eve of the Sydney Film Festivals final day, the opportunity arose to do just that, with their screening of ‘Comrade Kim Goes Flying'


The movie is a curious piece, and while the story behind it doesn’t involve any kidnapped South Korean directors (Shing Shang-ok) or forced into acting American military (Charles Jenkins – who authored ‘The Reluctant Communist’, strongly recommended!), it’s certainly no less interesting. Essentially the idea came from Nicholas Bonner, a British gentleman who founded Koryo Tours, a company which specializes in trips to North Korea. He also produced a couple of documentaries on the country, including the critically praised ‘The Game of Their Lives’, and so with the help of another producer, Belgian Anja Daelemans, they pitched the idea of a movie about a working class girl struggling to achieve her dream of being a trapeze artist.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

K-Pop and Korean Film: An Unlikely Marriage?

Today on the KOFFIA blog, blogger Ben Lee takes a look at the relation between Korean film and K-pop. Make sure to look out for our Reach for the Stars category at #KOFFIA2013, which includes the K-pop documentary 9 Muses of Star Empire and the true story of a variety show star in My Paparotti, if you want to learn more about Korean music on screen!



Globalisation has truly swept through South Korea during the past two decades. From its status as a hermit state under the Joseon dynasty during the 19th Century to becoming a world leader in electronics, steel production and shipping in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, Korean popular culture has now made the jump to global audience. This is seen through an info-graphic from "YouTube Trends"...