▲ This file photo shows Director Bong Joon-ho. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) 

 

 

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korean star director Bong Joon-ho will visit the Florence Korean Film Festival once again for the first time in 12 years.

The 21st Florence Korean Film Fest will be held from Mar. 30 to Apr. 7, according to the Taegeukgi Cultural Association Wednesday. The Association will be hosting the Festival, which introduces Korean films throughout Europe and particularly in Italy.

The expected visit of Director Bong to this year’s event has been drawing keen attention in Italy. The veteran filmmaker, who is best known to have delivered the mega-hit film “Parasite,” has officially been invited as a member of the master class on Apr. 6 and will attend the Fest for the first time in 12 years since 2011.

“We are very happy to have Director Bong, one of the most widely acclaimed filmmakers not only in Korea but also worldwide, returning to the stage in Florence,” the chairman of the Association said.

“Director Bong now stands as a symbol of the Korean films that are constantly evolving,” he added.

Director Bong has grown into a huge figure in the Korean film industry over all genres by putting numerous hit films to the big screens, including “Memories of Murder,” “The Host,” and “Mother.”

His films “Snowpiercer” and “Okja” put him on the world stage and emerge as an international director by attracting global movie capital and Hollywood actors.

He recently won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for the mega-hit film “Parasite,” along with four U.S. Academy Awards in 2020, solidifying his global reputation in name and reality.

The period war film “Hansan: Rising Dragon,” which realistically portrayed the epic battle headed by the military general Yi Sun-sin against the Japanese navy in 1592, will be opening the 21st Florence Korean Fest. Director Kim Han-min and the lead actor Park Hae-il will be appearing together on the stage to introduce their film.

A special exhibition for actor Park will also be held, during which seven major works of Park will be screened and re-introduced.

The theme of this year’s special session of the Fest will be “K-women,” during which director Lim Soon-rye of “The Point Men” and director July Jung of “Next Sohee” will shed light on the role of women in the Korean film industry and their works.

In the meantime, director Park Kyu-tae’s comedy film “6/45” will also be screened on the Italian big screen for the very first time, which has also been garnering attention as to what responses the film would receive from Italian moviegoers.

Along with 29 feature films, the Fest will be featuring 41 short films directed by young filmmakers which will serve as yardsticks for gauging the future of Korean films.

Korean webtoons, which have been steadily gathering worldwide attention, are also expected to be analyzed during the Fest. The Taeguekgi Cultural Association, the Fest’s host, will be displaying a webtoon exhibition along with a master class on webtoons by joining hands with the Busan Information Promotion Agency under the theme of “Webtoon – The Future of Cartoon.”

The Florence Korean Film Fest is sponsored by the Korea Film Council, the Korean Embassy and Korean Cultural Center in Italy, Regione Toscana, and the city of Florence.

This year, two Korean chefs from Jeonju City, which is known for the Jeonju Hanok Heritage Village and also as a home to Korean traditional food, will visit the Italian city to prepare Korean food with students from the Florence Cooking School, which will serve as an opportunity to introduce Korean food at the opening reception.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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