The Korean Film Festival In Australia (KOFFIA) is back and bigger than ever for its seventh year running.
The program of 20 features and four guest sessions covers everything from blockbuster cinema to arthouse and rom-coms, all screened with English subtitles. To help wade through a sprawling lineup, KOFFIA artistic director David Park introduces his five hottest picks of the festival.
Alice In Earnestland
Tuesday August 16
If you missed Alice In Earnestland at the Sydney Film Festival this year, don’t miss your second chance to see it at the Korean Film Festival In Australia! Thefilm follows Soonam (Alice) in present-day Korea (Earnestland) and her inevitable descent into extreme behaviour as she is grinded down to her bare sanity by dark forces of society. Alice In Earnestland has wildly exciting visuals, even wilder action and some very sobering implications. Bone-shaking farce meets political satire in a film that is often truly scary. The ending will have you cheering, so don’t miss Alice In Earnestland.
The Wailing
Sunday August 14
Police officer Jong-goo’s seemingly peaceful village is suddenly plagued with mysterious and violent deaths. With the deaths continuing to no avail, one by one the villagers begin to notice that they began when a mysterious man moved into a house perched on top of a nearby mountain. Death lingers in the air as a wild, entertaining supernatural thriller ensues which will have you glued to the screen from start to finish. The masterful use of suspense and gore was the talk of Cannes Film Festival and will no doubt delight film buffs wanting more.
Right Now,Wrong Then
Tuesday August 16
The latest offering from master filmmaker Hong Sang-soo is a self-reflexive piece that will delight any arthouse fan. Set in Suwon, about 30 kilometres south of Seoul, Hong’s Golden Leopard-winning masterpiece is divided into two sections which are identical but not quite the same. Befittingly, the first half is labelled ‘Right Then, Wrong Now’ and the second half, ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’. Jeong Jae-young, winner of the best actor prize at Locarno and Australia’s very own Asia Pacific Screen Awards, gives an entertaining and amusing performance which keeps the minimalistic plot afloat.
Inside Men
Saturday August 13
Korea’s well renowned gangster genre is like the prize child from the country’s booming film industry. Headlined by Lee Byung-hun (Terminator Genisys, G.I Joe, Red 2), Inside Men, based on a popular web comic, was that prize child of the year. A smashing political revenge thriller with more double-crossings and plot twists than you can count, the film follows the all-out war between three men – a gangster out for revenge, an ambitious prosecutor and an enigmatic editor for the press – all with one agenda: power.
Collective Invention
Saturday August 13
A crowd favourite at the Toronto International Film Festival, Collective Invention is the rise and fall story of Gu, an average Joe turned half-fish-half-man mutant from a medical experiment gone wrong. Gu becomes an overnight sensation, rising to meteoric fame, but with it comes the cons of being in the spotlight. A victim to some, a poseur to others, the more his renown grows, the more Gu comes to represent whatever is projected upon him. Forget your normal fairytale about mermaids, this modern day black comedy of a merman living in Seoul is a social satire not to be missed.
Korean Film Festival In Australia 2016 runs Wednesday August 10 – Thursday August 18 at Event Cinemas George Street. For the full schedule head tokoffia.com.au
