Move over Hollywood, here comes the EU

The European Union Film Festival opens tomorrow at the Seoul Art Cinema with a screening of “The Fading Light,” directed by Vassilis Douros of Greece. Mr. Douros discovered the film’s young star, Vladimiros Golosinski, in a tavern, where he was playing the violin. The actor plays a 12-year-old boy with extraordinary musical gifts whose eyesight is threatened by a rare disease.
A dozen more movies are being screened at the EU fest, being held in the basement of the ArtSonje Center, just east of Gyeongbok Palace, and runs until May 17. The program was organized by the Korean Association of Cinematheque with the help of several European embassies.
Only one movie, “Raining Stones,” has been shown in Korea. “The festival is an opportunity to see films that haven’t opened here,” says Lim Jae-jin, an organizer with the Association of Cinematheque.
The movies range from the erotic and melancholic “Lucia y el Sexo” (Sex and Lucia), directed by Julio Medem of Spain, to the disjointed neo-noir thriller, “The End of Violence,” by Wim Wenders of Germany. Most of the films have English subtitles. However, the version of “The End of Violence” that will be shown at the festival is dubbed in German, with Korean subtitles. Mr. Wenders’s original movie was recorded in English.
Other festival highlights include: Ken Loach’s “Raining Stones,” a gentle, humorous film about working-class Britons; “Les Convoyers Attendent” (The Carriers Are Waiting), the feature-length debut by the Belgian director Benoit Mariage; and “Fodelsedagen,” which completes the Swedish director Richard Hobert’s series on the seven deadly sins.
European movies remain a rarity in Korea. Currently, only 5 percent of the films screened here are from European Union.
“Hollywood controls the international film market,” Mr. Lim notes. “We’re bringing together art-house hits that otherwise would be difficult to see here.”

by Joe Yong-hee

For more information, call (02) 720-9782 or visit www.cinematheque.seoul.kr. Tickets are 6,000 won ($5) at www.maxmovie.com.