Toronto Korean Film Festival Wraps 2nd Edition

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NEWS & REPORTS

Toronto Korean Film Festival Wraps 2nd Edition

Jun 13, 2013

Writer by Pierce Conran
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Old and New Korean Films Shine in Canada

Not to be confused with the new Korean Film Festival Canada, taking place in five cities this summer, the Toronto Korean Film Festival recently completed its 2nd edition, which took place on June 1st and then over June 6-8. Screening features, shorts, as well as holding events and a Korean Cinema Forum, the celebration enjoyed great success. The focus of the festival was ‘Ups and Downs of Korean Peninsula’, with each screening representing an individual theme.

An early free screening of BONG Joon-ho’s blockbuster monster movie hit The Host (2006) was held on June 1st. To this day BONG’s film is the most popular Korean movie of all time, with over 13 million tickets sales during its original theatrical run seven years ago. Spectators were also treated to free bibimbap during the event, with sported the theme ‘Contemporary South Korea and the Influence of the United States.’

The festival kicked into full gear on June 6th with a special screening of Korean short films which included The Flight, Unfamiliar Dreams, Just Once More, Sexking, Should’ve Smile, A Bad Case of the Genre Fusion: “Don’t Fall in Love with My Son Sangwoo”, Traces of Joy and The Old Man and the Camera. Legendary actor MOON Sung-keun attended the screening.

The next day, KIM Ki-duk Address Unknown (2001) was screened under the theme ‘Legacy of the Korean War.’ The film was followed by TKFF’s opening party. June 8th, the last day of the festival, featured two films. Representing ‘Contemporary North Korea’ was the indie Merry Christmas, North!, while LEE Chang-dong’s modern classic Peppermint Candy (1999) stood in for ‘The Gwangju Democratization Movement.’

TKFF was able to build on its success after forging ties with organizations such as the Cinema Studies Student Union at University of Toronto, Reel Asian, HotDocs, Shinseidai and InsideOut. Following another successful edition, Toronto’s Korean film fans will be looking forward to next year’s 3rd TKFF.

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