Well, whatever. I'll just direct your attention again to the Gwangju Theater (광주극장), also downtown, which runs foreign and domestic movies old and new all the time, and doesn't need to stick "international" in its title to feel important. The movies and showtimes for the 10th through the 16th are up, and the website has information about movies coming out the week after as well. I'd like to see The Baader-Meinhof Complex, a 2008 German movie which comes out the 17th.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
What's going on with the Gwangju International Film Festival?
KoreaMaria's recent post also led me to ask what's up with the Gwangju International Film Festival (광주국제영화축제). According to the website it runs from September 16th through the 20th, though there's no information on the site except to say that the movies will be shown at the Megabox downtown. You can see a list of movies playing, in Korean, though no showtimes yet. There's no indication that it's been cancelled even though nobody's going anyway. This year's motto is "New Wave Again."
Well, whatever. I'll just direct your attention again to the Gwangju Theater (광주극장), also downtown, which runs foreign and domestic movies old and new all the time, and doesn't need to stick "international" in its title to feel important. The movies and showtimes for the 10th through the 16th are up, and the website has information about movies coming out the week after as well. I'd like to see The Baader-Meinhof Complex, a 2008 German movie which comes out the 17th.
Well, whatever. I'll just direct your attention again to the Gwangju Theater (광주극장), also downtown, which runs foreign and domestic movies old and new all the time, and doesn't need to stick "international" in its title to feel important. The movies and showtimes for the 10th through the 16th are up, and the website has information about movies coming out the week after as well. I'd like to see The Baader-Meinhof Complex, a 2008 German movie which comes out the 17th.
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4 comments:
The office is just around the coner from my shop. I'll go over tomorrow and ask what the hell is up. I was over last time asking for some promotional materials to hand out to people when they came into my place. They had nothing in English.
I've noticed the latest 'trend' in Korea, to build on their mecca and hub movement is for every city to have an International Film Festival. You may want to count how many have been down this year for fun.
Thanks, Brian.
I've had some good discussions about Gwangju Theater with some friends. One of them told me the Gwangju Theater is supported by some govt agency as part of a cultural enrichment endeavor for Gwangju. This money must just go for upkeep and access to films. No budget for promotion. Oops. I forgot I was in Korea for a moment. Who does promotion, except for "tonight" flyers and "it was last week - no one came"?
The theater is almost always empty, even though they serve free coffee. :)
I think it would be great to promote the theater more. They often have exhibits of local art work. I've seen a lot of cool cartoons and anime displayed in the past.
Janis, the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju has those kinds of "international" events all the time. I went to the "International" Food Expo there a year ago, and it was a wonderful display of all the different kinds of food Korea has to offer. Seriously, except for those kebab guys and a plate of nachos for "Mexican" food, everything else was the Korean regional specialty products you find at just about every other festival.
Maria, I mentioned the Gwangju Theater on this site a few times, and time permitting I'll link to their weekly showtimes in the future. I think it's good to try and support it.
I caught a film at the Japanese Film Festival, knowing of course that I wouldn't be able to understand it without English subtitles, but I just wanted to hear some Japanese and get a look at the old theater (oldest still in use in Gwangju I believe).
I really have no idea how much publicity they do. I don't read the Gwangju News much anymore, and being back home I haven't listened to GFN in over a month. Their target audience certainly isn't foreigners. That said, they really should . . . well, get an audience. I'm sure there are some die-hards deeply interested in film, but at the movie I saw in July, there were fewer than 10 people in a theater that holds 856. I suggested on an earlier thread maybe having like a night a month of movies with English subtitles, but then again I have no idea how many people'd show up.
I was impressed that they showed so many foreign movies, and put on a set of Japanese movies, complete with a collection of Japanese movie posters, magazines, and other knick-knacks. I was not impressed, though, that none of the Japanese people I know in Gwangju knew about the event until I told them.
Well, whatever, nobody pays me to think. Nobody pays me, come to think of it, to do anything.
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