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Sex slaves, soldiers, cops, athletes, musicians and the disabled are several kinds of people that have been captured by the humanistic nature of South Korean cinema.
Later this week, University of Idaho students will have the opportunity to see this for themselves at UI’s second annual Korean Film Festival.
Six films will be shown at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in the SUB’s Borah Theater.
Each night, the festival will feature two films that have been classified into a particular theme or genre.
The films have been divided into categories such as “Fun,” “Human” and “Dramatic.”
Each screening will begin with an introduction about the film, followed by an open discussion.
“Students just don’t really know about Korean movies so it would be a good exposure,” said Soyeon Kim, secretary for the Korean Students Association.
President of the Korean Film Club Padrhig Harney said that to the best of the organization’s knowledge, this is one of only five Korean film festivals held in the country. Harney also works for The Argonaut.
The other four take place annually in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.
He said that the UI event is the only non-profit festival and the only one associated with a college.
Last year, two of the festival’s screenings sold out.
“Other festivals that we have done, like the Chinese and Japanese film festivals, had good turnouts,” Kim said, “So we are kind of expecting that now for this one.”
The films were selected from a pool of 20 movies collected by Harney.
The film club voted on films to keep for the festival, including several outside opinions to compensate for potential cultural barriers.
“We want to not only show Korean culture, but show universal human emotions and social issues,” said the president of the Korean Students Association, Kyoung Deok Baik. “We can enlighten people.”
Harney said that the films are difficult to rent because they seldom have U.S. distributors. Kim said it is unlikely that students will be able to see the films anywhere else for such a low price.
“I hope people can appreciate the kind of chances they can get here,” Baik said. “They should know that this cannot happen without their help.”
Thursday night will be the “Fun Night.”
The first film, Jang Jin’s “Guns and Talks” is a dark comedy about the police pursuit of a group of assassins.
At 9:30 p.m., the experimental indie film “Magicians” by Song Il-gon follows the reunion of a rock band on the anniversary of the death of one of their members.
On Friday’s “Human Night,” the first screening will be for “Crying Fist” by Ryu Seung-wan, which is a family drama set in the world of sports.
The second movie will be Byun Young-Joo’s “The Murmuring.”
This tragic documentary focuses on the oppression of female Korean sex slaves during World War II.
On Saturday, “Drama Day” will start with “Welcome to Dongmakgol“ by Jang Jin.
The film is a war drama incorporating aspects of dark comedy.
The festival will finish with “Oasis” by Lee Chang-dong as a statement on human rights surrounding issues of physical disability.
The event is sponsored by the UI DIGG grant, ASUI, The Korean Consulate of Seattle, The Korean Students Association and the Moscow Korean Film Club.
The Korean Student Organization is also involved with the annual December Culture Mash and the Cruise the World event that will take place in the SUB on March 1.
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