Remembering Korea's heroes at Korean Film Festival at the Shang

The Korean Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, and the Film Development Council and the Shangri-La Plaza opened Remembering the Heroes, a weekend of film screenings celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Republic of Korea's March 1 Independence Movement and Provisional Government.

KCC Director Lee Jin Cheol

The films to be screened over the weekend of April 6-7 at the Red Carpet at the Shang are Man of Will/대장 김창수 and The Last Princess/덕혜옹주, two period films highlighting the stories of those who fought for the freedom of the Korean people. This is a change of pace from the popular Korean fare that has been embraced by local audiences for more than a decade now.

NARA team

NARA team

Korean Cultural Center of the Philippines Director Lee Jin Cheol, FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño, and Shangri-La Plaza's EVP and General Manager Lala Fojas welcomed the guests during the opening night. Cultural presentations by KCC's NARA team provided entertainment that night.

Remembering the Heroes also marks the first ever Korean film festival at the Red Carpet at the Shang, which has been the home of foreign language film festivals throughout the years.

Man of Will/대장 김창수

The opening night saw the screening of Man of Will, directed by Lee Won-tae. Based on a true story, the film stars Cho Jin-woong as Kim Chang-soo, a prisoner on death row whose crime was killing a Japanese who he claimed was one of the Empress' assassins. After a hard time in prison, he won over his prison mates when he started to teach them how to read and write. The film also sees heartthrob Song Seung-heun, in an antagonistic role as the traitorous prison director Kang Hyuk-sik who enjoys (and benefits from) socializing with the Japanese. A patriotic tale, the film emphasized the merits of literacy as a way to independence although there is still a great deal of violence throughout. 

The Last Princess/덕혜옹주

The other film selection is The Last Ptincess, directed by Hur Jin-ho. The film stars Son Ye-jin as Princess Deokhye, the last Princess of the Joseon Dynasty, who tries to return to her homeland of Korea after being taken to Japan as  hostage when she was a teenager.

New Wave of Korean cinema topbills 2013 Korean Film Festival

September 18-22, 2013

SM Megamall

Mandaluyong

Banking on the strength of the Korean Wave in the Philippines, the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines will be featuring six popular Korean films in the 2013 Korean Film Festival slated to be held from September 18 to October 10 in Manila, Iloilo, Cebu and Davao.

The film festival will kick off in SM Megamall and will run from September 18 to 22, to be followed by the SM Iloilo run from September 26 to 29. From October 3 to 6, the film festival will move to SM Cebu and will have its final run on October 10 to 13 at SM Lanang in Davao.

The films to be screened are Green Days (소중한 날의 꿈), Masquerade (광해, 왕이 된 남자), Sunny (써니), A Werewolf Boy (늑대소년), Deranged (연가시), and Dancing Queen (댄싱퀸).

The animated film Green Days (소중한 날의 꿈), voiced by actors Park Shin-hye, Song Chang-eui and Oh Yeon-soo, is a coming-of-age story of Yi-Rang, a track runner, Soo-Min, a pretty transfer student from Seoul and Chul-soo, as they work towards their dreams.

Topbilling the period film Masquerade (광해, 왕이 된 남자) are Lee Byung-hun of the G.I Joe fame and Han Hyo-joo as their respective characters tackle the intricacies of court life during the Joseon dynasty. In a turn of events, King Gwang-hae was poisoned and a court jester who looks remarkably like the king, Ha-sun, fills in the role of the king until the true king recovers fully. Ha-sun’s vastly different personality incites change in the morale among the people in the castle for the better.

Third in the roster is the critically-acclaimed film Sunny (써니) that retells the story of seven girls whose friendship stretches far back in high school through the journey of Na-mi, one of the seven girls. Chun-hwa, one of the girls, is presently terminally ill and asks Na-mi to get together the old members of Sunny for the last time before she dies.

Popular actors Song Joong-ki and Park Bo-young grace the fantasy-romance flick A Werewolf Boy (늑대소년) about the young “wolf boy” and a girl who had just moved to the small rural village as these two strangers find affection from each other against a cold world that shuns them both.

In Deranged (연가시), panic grows across the country as an epidemic of suicides occur where the victims jump into the river. The alarmed government declares a state of emergency. Medical supplies salesman Jae-hyuk suspects his family is showing symptoms of the drowning victims and through his brother, Detective Jae-pil, they search for the antidote to such.

In Dancing Queen (댄싱퀸) the wife of the Seoul mayoral candidate was a Dancing Queen, formerly a popular talent whose chase for her dreams came to an abrupt stop when her husband, Jung-min, decided to run for office. The movie goes through the journey of Jung-hwa as she balances her life as a wife of a political candidate and as a leader of the Dancing Queen.

The 2013 Korean Film Festival is in cooperation with the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the Korea Tourism Organization – Manila (KTO), the Korea Copyright Commission, SM Cinema, SM Cinema Megamall, SM Cinema Lanang and LG.

Here is the screening schedule of the SM Megamall leg of the 2013 Korean Film Festival:

September 18, 2013

7:00 PM A Werewolf Boy (늑대소년)

September 19, 2013

4:55 PM Masquerade (광해, 왕이 된 남자)

7:35 PM Dancing Queen (댄싱퀸)

September 20, 2013

4:30 PM Green Days (소중한 날의 꿈)

7:10 PM Deranged (연가시)

September 21, 2013

1:00 PM Green Days (소중한 날의 꿈)

3:30 PM Dancing Queen (댄싱퀸)

6:25 PM Sunny (써니)

September 22, 2013

1:00 PM A Werewolf Boy (늑대소년)

3:55 PM Sunny (써니)

6:50 PM Masquerade (광해, 왕이 된 남자)

Ticket price:

Free admission

For inquiries:

Korean Cultural Center 555-1711, events@koreanculture.ph