Saturday, December 22, 2007

Panel Discussion on The Korean Wave

There is a free panel discussion being held downtown on the "Hallyu" phenomenon, otherwise known as the Korean Wave.

Details are as follows:

Thursday, January 10th
5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
5:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Registration & Networking
6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. Presentation

Seyfarth Shaw LLP
131 S Dearborn Ave #2400
Chicago, IL 60603

Panelists:
Robert Cagle Asst. Professor,
Cinema Studies University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Frances Gateward Asst. Professor,
Cinema Studies University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Consul Jung-Il Han Korean Consulate General
Laura Miller Prof. Anthropology Loyola University
Man-Sung Son President SMS Productions

Reservations: Email kono@jaschicago.org no later than January 9, 2008.

See link for more details.




Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Jeon Do-yeon Takes Home Seventh Award

전도연

Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon, the queen of Cannes, is the most high profile actress in the country this year. The 34-year-old took home yet another award Saturday at the 6th Korea Film Festival held in Seoul.

At the annual event, director Lee Chang-dong's film "Secret Sunshine" secured Jeon her seventh award this year. Her winning streak started in May with the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Following on the heels of the Cannes' win, Jeon took home the special award from Korea's Daejong Film Festival, the Okgwan Order of Culture Merit from the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Best Actress Award from the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (where the film also won the prize for Best Feature Film).

She continued to sweep awards, winning the Best Actress Award from the Korean Movie Critics Association and the annual Blue Dragon Awards.

"Secret Sunshine" portrays Jeon as a widowed mother who moves to Miryang, a small city in North Gyeongsang Province with her son after the death of her husband. Unscreened clips were found by Internet users after the screening of the film, showing Jeon acting the young widow crying hysterically in the cold waters of a nearby lake. The scenes were enough to move viewers with her signature acting style, marked by intensity and charisma.

The ambitious actress now awaits two possible additions to her trophy collection, this time in Hollywood with nominations for the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.

The Korea Film Festival was truly a night for "Secret Sunshine", with Jeon's co-star Song Kang-ho also being named Best Actor and director Lee Chang-dong chosen as Best Director.