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Extraordinary Host

Korean actors Lee Je Hoon and Park Eun-bin, star of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” are set as hosts of the opening ceremony at the Busan International Film Festival. The event will take place on the evening of Oct. 4 at the purpose-built Busan Cinema Center.

Park performed as the first cross-dressing queen in a Korean historical drama with “The King’s Affection” in 2021 and cemented her position as the lead of hit contemporary drama series “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.”

Lee emerged as a rising star with his intense performances in films such as “Bleak Night “(2011), “The Front Line” (2011) and “Architecture 101” (2012). Following that, he showcased a broad range of acting skills in various genres, as seen in films “Anarchist From Colony” (2017), “I Can Speak” (2017) and “Time to Hunt.”

The pair previously shared the screen in the 2014 drama series “Secret Door.“

The festival runs Oct. 4-13.

Mix Tape Memories

Binge, the streaming arm of Australian pay-tv group Foxtel,...

The plight of high school teenagers has been the subject of several features, both mainstream and indie productions. With the latter in particular, this is a subject that has often found favour and with the right treatment and a fresh story, these features tend to stand out in the crowded sub-genre. Director Lee Woo-jung, for her debut feature film which premiered in the New Currents section at Busan International Film Festival last year, also tells the story from the similar perspective and dissects the relationship between three best friends.

“Snowball” is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

Best friends Lee Kang-yi, So-young and Ah-ram couldn’t be more different from each other. So-young is a straight-a student and the class beauty, who manages to get the three out of trouble every time, the more rebellious towards authority and parents. Ah-ram comes from a poor family with an abusive father...

Yoon Sung-hyun’s thriller was set to launch worldwide on April 10.

Netflix’s worldwide launch of Korean director Yoon Sung-hyun’s thriller Time To Hunt has been halted by a temporary injunction from Seoul Central District Court.

After picking up worldwide rights from local investor and distributor Little Big Pictures, the streaming service were planning to release the Berlinale title in 190 countries tomorrow (April 10).

However, sales company Contents Panda brought a suit against Little Big Pictures, disputing their right to sell non-Korean rights to the film as they see their original international sales rights contract with Little Big Pictures as still valid.

With the majority of filmfans and cinephiles forced to spend time at home, there are still ways to view Asian cinema in your region while still maintaining a safe distance to the world outside. Among other things Filmdoo offers a great selection of popular and lesser know Asian titles. Considering the aforementioned global situation, Filmdoo has offered free codes for those interested in their catalogue. Check out their homepage for further information and access their library.

To give you some suggestions, here is a selection of 15 titles you can enjoy on Filmdoo, all of which have been reviewed on Amp.

1. Bleak Night by Yoon Sung-hyun

““Bleak Night” is an intimate drama about friendship, about personal tragedy and the pain of growing up. It is a film not defined by the cliches of so many depictions of teenagers, but rather a story showing patience and empathy with its characters and their flaws,...

As context for those unaware, South Korea does not have the equivalent of the United States’ Second Amendment. Instead, the country enforces strict gun control — privately owned weapons must be stored at the police station — and fatal shootings hardly ever happen there. That’s important to know when watching Korean movies: It explains why the desperate hero in “Oldboy” fights his way through a hallway armed only with a hammer, or the audience’s shock when the knives come out at the end of “Parasite.”

Director Yoon Sung-hyun was born in the U.S., but attended film school in Korea, where high-impact survival thriller “Time to Hunt” takes place. The story of four young thieves, a relentless killer and a whole lot of bullets, Yoon’s ultra-violent, Hollywood-style second feature is a radical departure from his more introspective 2011 student film, “Bleak Night,” and from the country’s gun laws in general.