Korean Film 06.  27 September - 31 September 2006

Photo taken by Philip Gowman

Festival Report.

For those who attended Korean Film 06, I am sure you will agree with me, that it was a major success. At present I haven't got the exact figures of how many people managed to attend, but every peak time show was full and even the late night screenings attracted many people.

For me, the highlight was the opening night, which not only attracted hundreds of people, but the Korean media was in full swing to capture the director Kwak Gyoung-Taek, who took questions after the UK premier of his film, Typhoon. You can find out what he said on my news section.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to see a great deal during the week because I was tied up helping the team out as well as giving KBS (Korean Broadcasting Systems) a hand. I was hoping to be able to review many of the films on show, but when I can, I will review the DVD's.

On the whole the response was very positive, though there were some resevations about Typhoon. I managed to see a few minutes of the film, which were quite poor, particuarly the acting, but I will wait until I see the film in its entirety before I make any further comments.

There were some complaints regarding the ticket system. Some people would have prefered to pay for the tickets, but in order to make the festival as attractive as possible, they wanted to make it FREE. Until Korean films are at a stage where there is a very strong demand for them, it is unlikley any festival will charge a ticket price. Mind you, there needs to be a more efficient way of collecting tickets and this is something they are working on.

The BBC have done a video feature on the festival, click here to see it. Click on the video 'London features Korean Films'. If they have taken it off, click on any video and search for the feature under the above title.

If you have any comments you want to make, please e-mail me, or you can submit a post on the forum.

Firecracker Film Festival, London.  14 September - 24 September 2006

Tiger Eye Firecracker Showcase

Festival Report

I can't really comment on the festival as a whole, since I only saw two films; Mountain Patrol (opening film - China) and The Host, but as always, both Nick and Ericka were terrific and made everyone feel very comfortable and almost at home.

The four Korean films on show were a great selection and it is a real shame I wasn't able to catch most of them.

The Host on a second viewing was as terrifc as the first encounter. There was some minor variations to the version I saw at Frightfest, but it is difficult to find them, unless you are looking for them. Almost like a Where's wally?

I was a little disappointed with the turn out. It was about half full, but the location isn't the easiest place to get into Central London and perhaps the people who wanted to see it, saw it at Frightfest. One thing I did notice about this screening was the importance of watching it on a BIG screen with a decent sound system. I am not saying the Renoir (Russell Square) is particuarly bad, but what I am saying is the Odeon Leicester Square is particuarly good. So if you want to see it when it gets a nationwide release on 10 November, I strongly recommend you go to a cinema where you have the technical necessities. The Curzon mayfair is a  fantastic cinema, so if The Host ever gets a screening there, I would strongly suggest you pay a visit.  Incedently I noticed this about Lady Venegeance at Korean Film 06 - there is no place like the cinema to watch a film. You simply don't give the film justice watching the film only on a DVD, even with the Home cinema units you can buy these days.

Thanks Nick and Ericka for all your hard work and effort. I cannot wait until next year!