Korean Job Discussion Forums

[VanIslander]

Last year I saw 12 films at the festival and thought it better than the PIFF in Busan: just as many great foreign films to see, from over 50 different countries, and yet much less crowds. I walked up to the ticket counter at noon on Friday and got tickets to most of what I wanted no prob. Funny thing is, I read on Dave's that six hours later someone had trouble getting tickets, which I understand, as there was a rush to buy tickets about 3ish.

See you there! I'll be the film buff wearing the JIFF 2006 cap. (Yes, I am THAT guy. Maybe I shouldn't be, but we each have a thing, and this is mine)



http://english.jiff.or.kr/

And a thread on it from last year: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=56108&highlight=jeonju+film+festival

[VanIslander]

One of the most interesting sections of the festival is the �Indie Vision� which provides new filmmakers an opportunity to provide an alternative, original approach, with the section's best film garnering $10,000. Here are some from this section I'm considering seeing (multiple screen times but am only posting weekend times I'd possibly make it to):

Potosi, The Journey, (France/Israel) Sat. 8pm
In 1970, director Havilio went to the Andes on his honeymoon with his wife Jacqueline and stumbled upon a city named Potosi while crossing Bolivia. Twenty-nine years later, the now middle-aged couple and their three daughters head back to Potosi with a 16mm camera. Created after seven years of producing, Potosi, the Journey is a travel memoir and private epic of the Havilio family. The deep wisdom of the director viewing the world and people near Potosi is evident in the film.

Reprise (Norway) Fri. 8pm
Reprise provides a glimpse into the dreams, loves and culture of contemporary Norwegian youths reminiscent of Danny Boyle�s witty film Trainspotting. The experiments on form, such as the quick-tempo editing, elaborate dissonance of time and space, frequent insert and black and white screen, screen partition, jump cut, freeze shot and stills, gives a hint of the director�s characteristic, sensible producing style from his famed short film days.

A White Ballad (Italy/Netherlands) Sat. 11am, Sun 2 pm
This film is a cinematographic journey of words and images, about isolation, childhood, decay and love.� The aesthetics of minimalism is obvious in the number of characters, the space used and camera work. The eighty-year-old couple in the film were a real married couple and weren�t professional actors. The voice-over that calmly flows throughout the film was by Sergio Fiorentini, the voice of Domenico in Tarkovsky�s Nostalgia.

[VanIslander]

Another of the sections of the festival is entitled Discovery: Turkish Cinema and it got me realizing I can't recall the last Turkish film I've seen, and may have only seen one or two ever, if that. There are eight Turkish films being shown and I'm intrigued to see how this non-Arabic, non-Persian Middle Eastern bridge-between-civilizations culture produces a distinctly different, or overlapping, style of filmmaking. I might see:

Hope (1970, Turkey) Fri 2 pm/Sun. 11 am
A destitute carriage driver struggles to support his family. Bad luck befalls the man when one of his carriage horses is killed in an accident. He decides to leave for treasure believed to be buried somewhere. Hope is Guney�s second film:the story draws on the direc-tor�s own experiences of poverty. The metaphoric depiction of desperate realities hits audience.

The Small Town (1997, Turkey) Fri/Sun 5 pm
On a summer night in a small town of Turkey afamily are sitting around a fire in a farm talking about their own memories and wishes. The cousin wants to escape from the town. The father reflects on the past glories of Turkey. The grandfather returned alive from World War II. The uncle hasn�t come back. The stories lull the children into nostalgic feelings about the forests and fields where they usually play. Nuri Bilge Ceylan both directed and filmed the movie. His talent as a photographer created scenes that look like a beautiful photo album.

Journey to the Sun (1999, Turkey) Sat. 5 pm
This film looks at the issues of Turkish Kurds. Mehnet seeks a better life in Istanbul and befriends Berzan, a Kurd. His friendship with Berzan getshim in trouble after he is mistaken for a Kurdish insurgent at a checkpoint. After Mehmet is released by the police, no one but Berzan accepts him. However, Berzan is killed in a clash with the police during a protest. Mehmet sets off on a long journey to bring Berzan�s remains to his hometown.

I checked them out on the 'net and Hope is considered a turning point in Turkish cinema, The Small Town won a prize at the Berlin Film Festival and Journey to the Sun is a film about the Kurds (very rare), directed by a woman (not common enough) and so intrigues me. I'll likely see one or more of these on my shortlist.

[VanIslander]

Friday, Saturday and Sunday there are all-night showings under the section title Midnight Obsessions. I'm not a John Waters B-rate counterculture fan or Japanese animation nut, so I'm unlikely to pull all-nighters with those choices this time. But under the musical theme there is, beside a Neil Young retrospective which one can see in the future anytime so no need watching at a film festival, there is one from the section I might catch:

Four Minutes (Germany) Midnight Friday/Sunday 2 pm
Mrs.Cruger has been teaching prisoners to play the piano for forty years. Despite buying a grand piano, the number of prisoners who want to take piano lessons gets fewer. She gets a chance to teach Jenny, a young prisoner and notices Jenny�s gift. It is hard to teach her classical music, as she wants to be free and becomes into jazz. Mrs. Cruger persuades the warden of the jail and takes Jenny to a piano contest. The last four minutes are both impressive and unforgettable.

[Becka]

I'll be heading down this weekend for some of these films, for sure.

But what's up with not letting foreigners reserve and pay for tickets (with a Korean credit card) over the phone (when speaking Korean)? I was told that I *had* to send them an English e-mail, and that I could get my tickets when I arrive on Friday. Should I trust that my tickets are actually, truly reserved this way?

Also! We're looking for recommendations for cheap, private accommodation for the weekend in Jeonju, preferably near the festival venues. Got any advice?

Thanks in advance!

[bixlerscott]

I just want a bunch of good DVD's that are not available here. I am not in Seoul or Busan, but in Korea itself. LOL. Yea, the TV has little to watch and I still lack internet in my APT becuase I need this notebook computer fan part that it not available in Korea for my foreign laptop so I am internetless, for now. I sure want some good DVD's and music. Screw the film festival that is hard to get to, because it is not in my local area of Korea. Keep in mind, time efficiency and easy acces means everthing.

A co-FT showed me this really good site called www.mininova.org where you can download all kinds of goodies like shows, movies, and magazines. It's some sort of file share site where it's best when you have a PC in your joint... He, with his top end notebook computer in his APT can even burn DVD shows from the site... Enjoy...

[VanIslander]

[VanIslander]

Has anyone around here ever seen a sonimage? where a silent film is accompanied by live music performance!

There will be a sonimage performance with a 1917 John Ford film. Top of my wish list:

Straight Shooting (USA) Sat. 6 p.m.
Flint, a farm owner, stops supplying water to Sims, a local farmer. When Sims� son Ted goes to find water, one of Flint�s servants kills him. One of John Ford�s early works, Straight Shooting illustrates the path to becoming a legendary filmmaker. This film was restored by Cineteca di Bologna and Filmmuseum Amsterdam.

Under the cinemascape section I'm interested in seeing:

Hills of Disorder (Brazil) Fri 8 pm
Carapiru is a Brazilian native living among white people after they save his life when he�s attacked by a Caucasian farm owner. One day, anthropologists and linguists arrive to study him with a translator. He realized the eighteen year old translator is his son. So Carapiru goes back to where he originally came from, but he gets confused between the two cultures.

Closely Watched Trains (Czech 1966) Sat. 5pm
A train station in Czechoslovakia as World War II is nearing its end. Milo� who is training to work at the station misses the chance to spend the night with his girlfriend. Crestfallen, Milo� tries to commit suicide and his colleague introduces him to a woman who will be able to make him a real man. After successfully spending a night with the woman, Milo� waits with explosives for the train to fight against German soldiers. Based on a comic tragic novel written by the Nobel prize-winning novelist Bohumil Hrabal, this film is recognized as a leading Czeck New Wave film.

Larks on a String (Czech 1968) Fri 5 pm
Prague in the early 1950s. A film that depicts with humor the happenings in a prison camp where people suspected of having bourgeoisietendencies are locked up. Sharp criticism of Stalinism lies beneath the humor and wit. Based on the original by Bohumil Hrabal, the film was produced in 1968 but was banned right away, then the ban was lifted in 1989.

And from the cinema palace section I'm interested in:

Fireworks Wednesday (Iran) Fri 2 pm
Three days prior to the Iranian New Year, Rouhi, a maid, is hired to clean the home of Morteza, Mojdeh and their child. Mojdeh suspects her husband is cheating on her. The young maid observes the relationships and realities of this family during Fireworks Wednesday. This is the story of one day in the life of an Iranian family.

The Hairy Tooth Fairy (Argentina) Sun 2 pm
Lucia, an active little girl, who looses a tooth. Santiago, her father, is an out-of-work boss, and her mother, Pilar, is a successful but overworked architect, reassure Lucia, by telling her that, that very night, the Hairy Tooth Fairy(a mouse named Perez) will come to her bedroom to collect the tooth, leaving some money in its place. What nobody realises is that a strange and wonderful story has been set in motion�

[VanIslander]

There's a special retrospective section on the films of Peter Watkins, 'the godfather of mock documentaries', the genre which brought us Death of a President last year about the assasination of G. W. Bush. I want to see one of these two of the nine films of his being shown:

Edvard Munch (Norway/Sweden 1976) Sat. 8pm
This Film was reconstructed from first-hand reference to dialogues from Edvard Munch�s diary. Best known with The Scream, this Nowegian painter is known as �the artist of death and jealousy,� had lost his mother and his sister by tuberculous in his childhood and he suffered from same illness almost to death. Also, due to hopeless love with Mrs. Heiberg who was Munch�s lifelong lover, he finally abandons the naturalistic style of painting and develops his own unique style.

Privilege (UK/USA 1967) Sun 8 pm
The plot is based on a conspiracy among social leaders, such as politicians, religious groups and etc., designed to incapacitate the politically potential threats from younger generation, by making use of the influence of popular stars. When Shorter, the main protagonist, admits to the people that he is nothing more than a human, all his �Privilege� is gone and he is suddenly became as the enemy of society.

[VanIslander]

The Cuban film I really wanna see isn't screening until Monday and Tuesday, when I'll be back at work.

There are a lot of French films at the festival but I'm focusing more on less available films. Last year I saw a few Thai films, a Malaysian and Filipino one and some South American and African cinema. This year I seem destined to see a few Turkish and Scandinavian films.

I tend to avoid Chinese and Japanese films at festivals because they are very well represented in specialty moviehouses and foreign film sections of video shops back home. And Korean films, well, I can see them anytime here so I don't bother. Besides, the JIFF and PIFF festivals have been pleasant breaks from Korean culture, surrounded by fellow foreigners, watching stories from other places in the world, it's like taking a holiday.

[VanIslander]

Well, I leave for the festival in an hour.

Look forward to seeing some of you there.

I'll be the big guy in the JIFF 7 cap.

Have a good weekend!