Cultural Insight

[Anchor Lead]

On today's cultural news, we bring you the story of the 69th Berlin International Film festival closing to an end, with Korean films making their presence known. Here's more.

[Pkg]

The 69th Berlin International Film Festival has ended its ten day run. This year, 17 films vied in the competition section. The highest Golden Bear honor awarded to best film went to the Israeli-French-German co-production drama 'Synonyms.' Korean films did not compete for an award this year but still, five films were invited to noncompetitive categories and made their presence known in respective ways. Independent film 'House of Hummingbird' directed by Kim Bo-ra received the grand prize in the festival's Generation 14+ section which represents movies for the teens generation. Also, the main cast members of the Korean film "Idol" starring actor Sol Kyung-gu and actress Chun Woo-hee attended the red carpet and World Premiere events in Berlin and heated up the atmosphere. After the showing, the film reportedly received a standing ovation for five minutes.
The Korean film "Anarchist from Colony," which is set in the Japanese colonial period, has opened in theaters in major cities in Japan including Tokyo and Osaka. The 2017 film directed by Lee Joon-ik and starring actor Lee Je-hoon is a biopic of the Korean freedom fighter and anarchist Park Yeol and his Japanese lover Kaneko Fumiko. In Japan, the film has hit theaters in the title "Kaneko Fumiko and Park Yeol." According to film circles, some Japanese right wing groups protested the film's showing when it began to be promoted last month. But on the first day of release this weekend, tickets sold out as Japanese viewers with particular interest in history and their neighboring country Korea flocked to the movies. It's highly unusual for a film about a Korean independence activist to be officially released in Japan. This year also marks the centennial of the 1919 Independence Movement Day of March first, making Anarchist from Colony's showing in Japan even more meaningful.