By Ra Hwak Jin/ Joonha Yoo
◇ Busan film festival back in full force with packed events
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| ▲The opening ceremony of the 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is held at the Busan Cinema Center in the southeastern port city of Busan on Oct. 5, 2022. (Yonhap) |
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) kicked off its 10-day run Wednesday with a tightly packed opening ceremony, returning in full force after two years of scaled-down events.
Celebrities in lavish dress posed for photos to claim the spotlight of the night and then walked the red carpet in front of shouting fans, who filled up about 5,000 open theater seats at the Busan Cinema Center in the southeastern port city of Busan.
The opening ceremony, co-hosted by South Korean actors Ryu Jun-yeol and Jeon Yeo-been, was in a festive mood, as it was held in full scale for the first time in three years since the pandemic. Tickets were sold out for the opening night, according to the organizer.
BIFF director Huh Moon-young said this year's edition aims to attract a nearly pre-pandemic level of audience with a complete lineup of screenings, meet-and-greet events for fans and community events.
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| ▲ Celebrities walk the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) held at the Busan Cinema Center in the southeastern port city of Busan on Oct. 5, 2022. (Yonhap) |
The 27th BIFF opened with the international premiere of Hadi Mohaghegh's Iranian drama film "Scent of Wind" and wraps up on Oct. 14 with Japanese director Ishikawa Kei's "A Man," staying true to its origin as a bridgehead to promote Asian films by talented directors to the world.
The latest edition features 243 films from 71 countries, including 89 world premieres and 13 international debuts.
The 2022 selection will be screened at seven theaters in Busan, whose seats are available at their full capacity without social distancing restrictions. Movie viewers are still required to wear masks indoors.
This week, meet-and-greet events for fans with their favorite movie stars and directors are scheduled in various settings to spice up the festive mood.
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| ▲The opening ceremony hosts of this year's 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) Ryu Jun-yeol and Jeon Yeo Been walk on the red carpet during its opening ceremony held at the Busan Cinema Center in the southeast port city of Busan on OCT. 5 (Yonhap) |
Hong Kong legend Tony Leung Chiu Wai is set to attend the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award on Thursday and have career-spanning talks with audience members Friday. The festival featured six films selected by the actor, including "In the Mood for Love" (2000), "Infernal Affairs" (2002) and "2046" (2004).
Gala Presentation, which introduces new projects of the world's renowned filmmakers, will be dedicated to European films -- "Nobody's Hero" by Alain Guiraudie from France and "Scarlet" by Pietro Marcello from Italy.
BIFF will also premiere 15-minute video footage of "Avatar: The Way of Water," the sequel to James Cameron's Avatar, ahead of its global release in December. Jon Landau, the film's co-producer, will provide a discussion on the movie.
After being introduced last year with three selections, the "On Screen" section returns with nine new TV dramas by global streaming platforms this year to offer visitors rare chances to watch streaming series on the big screen prior to their release.
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| ▲ Iranian director Hadi Mohaghegh talks during a press conference after the screening of "Scent of Wind," the opening film of the 27th Busan International Film Festival, in the southeastern port city of Busan on Oct. 5, 2022. (Yonhap) |
Among them are Netflix's new Korean-language original "Glitch" by rising Korean director Roh Deok, and "Yonder," local streaming platform Tving's upcoming sci-fi drama directed by acclaimed Korean filmmaker Lee Joon-ik.
Japanese director Takashi Miike's first Korean-language project, "Connect," a Disney+ original, will also be unveiled at the On Screen section.
This year, 20 movies, including "A Wild Roomer" by Korean director Lee Jeong-hong, "Shivamma" by Jaishankar Aryar from India and "Thousand and One Nights" by Nao Kubota from Japan, will vie for "New Currents," a main competition section for emerging talents.
A new competitive section titled "Jiseok," named after late BIFF program director Kim Jiseok, will give awards to select works of established Asian filmmakers among eight nominees, including opening film "Scent of Wind."
◇ Stray Kids drops love song of its own style
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| ▲K-pop boy group Stray Kids poses for the camera during an online press conference for its seventh EP "Maxident" on Oct. 7, 2022, in this photo provided by JYP Entertainment (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Globally popular K-pop group Stray Kids returned Friday with a song depicting the universal theme of love in its own style.
Included in the band's new EP, "Maxident," released at 1 p.m., the song "Case 143" compared one's confusion from sudden feelings of love to an incident with a case number 143.
It marks the first time that any album from the group has been fronted by a love-themed song since its debut in 2018, but it is not the first long song from the group.
Han and Changbin participated in composing and writing the lyrics for the main track as a member of the group's own producing unit, 3RACHA, along with Bang Chan.
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| ▲K-pop boy group Stray Kids poses for the camera during an online press conference for its seventh EP "Maxident" on Oct. 7, 2022, in this composite photo provided by JYP Entertainment (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
For the EP's name, the band once again used a compound word as it did with its previous EP "Oddinary," a combination of the English words "odd" and "ordinary," to carry the message that odd things will soon be perceived as ordinary. The title "Maxident" is a compound word of "max," or "maximum," and "Incident," meaning a big incident together, according to the band.
The new EP is expected to be the first double million-selling album from the group as its preorders reached 2.24 million copies on Sept. 28, more than a week before its release.
In August, last year, Stray Kids became the first K-pop act under JYP Entertainment with a million-selling album for its second full-length album "Noeasy." "Oddinary," which was released in March this year, became the band's second album to sell more than a million copies. The album also made the band the third K-pop act to claim No. 1 on the Billboard 200 main albums chart.
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| ▲K-pop boy group Stray Kids poses for the camera during an online press conference for its seventh EP "Maxident" on Oct. 7, 2022, in this photo provided by JYP Entertainment (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Seungmin attributed the success to the support from the band's global fandom STAY, saying it still doesn't feel real.
Although the band is now in its fifth year in the job, its members always feel a lot of pressure to work on new songs because they want to show off their growth to fans, according to Bang Chan. But the pressure also serves as a stimulus for development, he said.
When asked about the group's next goal, Changbin said, "Many people gain strength from music, and I hope Stray Kids' name will come to their mind first at such moments."
◇ BLACKPINK's second album ranks fourth in US Billboard chart .. stays in 'Top 5' for two consecutive weeks
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| ▲This photo, provided by YG Entertainment, shows girl group BLACKPINK. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Korean girl group BLACKPINK's second full-length album "BORN PINK" is staying in the U.S. Billboard main album chart "Billboard 200" "Top 5" for two consecutive weeks, showing a long-run success.
BLACKPINK ranked first on the "Billboard 200" for first time as a K-pop girl group, selling 102,000 albums. It is the fourth K-pop group topping the "Billboard 200" chart after BTS, Super M, and Stray Kids.
BLACKPINK not only topped the U.S. Billboard chart with this album, but also topped the U.K. official album chart "Top 100," and became the first Asian women artist to top both the U.S. and the U.K. music chart.
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| ▲This photo, provided by YG Entertainment, shows BLACKPINK. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
According to the latest chart by Billboard on Wednesday, title track "Shut Down" and pre-released song "Pink Venom" from the girl group's second full length album "Born Pink" are placed on Hot 100 chart at 67th and 87th, respectively.
"BORN PINK" album also recorded 4th place on Billboard main album chart "Billboard 200," staying on the chart for two consecutive weeks.
Moreover, K-pop girl group BLACKPINK has managed to successfully chart their second full length album "Born Pink" on the UK's Official Chart for three consecutive weeks.
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