The South Korean cinema is booming. Not only in its own country does Korean film making present itself so intelligently, so powerfully and with so may facets, but internationally as well, as the export of Korean productions abroad and numerous film festival awards show. In Korea Korean films have a market share of over 50% and easily leave Hollywood films far behind them. All the same, names of directors such as Park Chan-wook (Grand Jury Prize in Cannes 2004 for "Old Boy"), Kim Ki-duk (Silver Bear for best director in Berlin 2004 for "Samaris"), Im Kwon-taek (award in Cannes 2002 for "Chihwaseon"), Lee Chang-dong (awards in Venice 2002 for "Oasis") or Bong Joon-ho (awards for "Memories of Murder" in San Sebastian 2003) are only familiar to connoisseurs of Asian cinema.

The thematic focus of this year’s Film Festival hopes to awake interest for such unknown and fascinating cinema. It receives support from the South Korean Embassy in Berlin and from the film journalist Jeen Hwa-Young, who lives in Berlin and will hold a talk on the theme of Korean films in Braunschweig.




Samaria
D: Kim Ki-Duk, KOR 2004, 95 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
We, November 10 10:15 pm CinemaxX 3
Th, November 11 7:45 pm CinemaxX 3



Yeo-Jin’s best friend Jae-young works as a prostitute. Yeo-Jin acts as her manager, so to speak, - she keeps an eye out for the police and for customers. One day she fails to see a police squad which is hunting under-age prostitutes. In an attempt to escape arrest Jae-Young jumps out the window and dies shortly afterwards. Yeo-Jin now begins to seek out and sleep with Jae-Young’s former customers. She does not wish to earn anything doing this; quite the contrary, she returns their money.




Oasis
D: Lee Chang-dong, KOR 2002, 132 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
We, November 10 2:45 pm CinemaxX 2
Su, November 14 10:45 am CinemaxX 4



When retarded Jong-du is released from prison his family is anything but pleased to see him. He was the cause of a fatal accident and then fled the scene. He decides to go and apologize to the family of the victim. Here he meets their daughter, Gong-ju, who is suffering from cerebral paralysis. No one except Jong-du seems to be interested in her and although the odds seem to be against it, a tender and intimate friendship develops between the two outsiders. With its drastic sets and its gripping moments OASIS is one of the most moving love films in recent years.




Silmido
D: Kang Woo-suk, KOR 2003, 135 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Sa, November 13 11:30 am CinemaxX 3
Su, November 14 8:00 pm CinemaxX 3



Thirty one condemned prisoners are sent by government command to the island of Silmido, where they are to be turned into human killing machines. With great severity this action drama shows how the men’s wills and spirits are broken in order to transform them into veritable robots. The film is based on true facts. In the late 60s a group of convicts was supposed to have been trained by the South Korean government to assassinate North Korea’s dictator Kim Il-sung.




The Legend of the Evil Lake (Cheonnyeon Ho)
D: Lee Kwang-hoon, KOR 2003, 92 min, 35 mm, colour, GV
Fr, November 12 10:00 pm CinemaxX 3
Sa, November 13 3:00 pm Universum 1



Once upon a time the Shilla army annihilated the native Auta tribe. The Auta chief’s curse was banished with a sword into a lake. One thousand years later the Shilla tribe was on the decline. The cunning queen Chinsong sends her best officer, General Biharang, into battle to rescue the unity of the kingdom. In his absence an attempt is made on the life of his lover Jaunbi. Jaunbi flees to the cursed lake where the hate-filled demon of the Auta chief enters her body. Bent on vengeance, the possessed woman returns to the royal residence in order to cruelly send Chinsong and her whole court into the next world.




Old Boy
D: Park Chan-wook, KOR 2003, 120 min, 35 mm, colour, GV
Th, November 11 10:30 pm CinemaxX 4
Sa, November 13 5:15 pm Universum 1



Businessman and family man Dae-su has been imprisoned for fifteen years without ever even learning why. From the TV news he learns about the death of his wife, for which he has been blamed. When he is suddenly set free his kidnapper tells him to find the reason for his long imprisonment within five days. But Dae-su has only one goal: revenge for all the senselessly lost years, for his dead wife and for his completely ruined life.




Memories of Murder
D: Bong Joon-Ho, KOR 2003, 127 min, DVD, colour, GS
We, November 10 7:45 pm Universum 2
Fr, November 12 2:45 pm Universum 2



Between 1986 and 1991 ten women were murdered in a bestial manner near Seoul in South Korea. The local police soon suspect the village idiot is the culprit. But when an investigator from Seoul comes, he realizes that there has been an error. Then a possible breakthrough: there seems to be a link between a listener’s wish on the radio and the murders. However, new clues turn up which make everything questionable. What to do when the case always ends in a blind alley?




Save the Green Planet
D: Jeong Jun-Hwan, KOR 2003, 118 min, DVD, colour, GS
Sa, November 13 10:30 pm Universum 2
Su, November 14 2:45 pm Universum 2



A flaky loser is absolutely convinced that he alone recognizes the threat to Earth from aliens. He kidnaps an industrialist he considers the leader of the invading forces. In his cellar he submits the man to bizarre tortures. What begins as a farce quickly develops into the drama of a bewildered young man hard hit by fate. But that is not all the film has in store!




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