On the edge of the revolution

Digital technology is changing the movie industry, and the ResFest 2003 Digital Film Festival is the place to see the latest trends. The fourth Korea screening of this international festival opens tonight at Yonsei University Centennial Hall with a Michel Gondry retrospective.
Gondry projects, according to festival organizers, are “one part science and one part punk rock.” The filmmaker, who often works with his younger brother, Oliver “Twist,” made his mark with innovative music videos and now works in advertising and feature filmmaking.
Traditionally, ResFest opens in the United States in the fall, then tours the world, stopping in 18 cities. Each country creates a special program while maintaining the integrity of the festival. ResFest has developed a reputation for being both cutting-edge and very legitimate, and a launching pad for up-and-coming directors.
The shortest section of the festival is “Mobile Art,” a collaboration between the gallery ArtCenter Nabi and June, the mobile phone company. The 15-minute section includes short films and flash animation that can be downloaded and shown on mobile phones.
“We’ve become a place for new media to develop, and while it’s hard to be the innovator, so far we’ve delivered,” says Soh Jae-young, cofounder and executive producer of the festival in Korea.
Resfest has standard festival fare ― short films ― but in Korea, it’s the other sections that have won devotees. Over the four years, the festival has “branched out,” according to Bernie Cho, cofounder and sponsorship director. “We have films you can’t see anywhere else.”
The Music Video section is one of the popular sections. “Cinema Electronica” ― part of the midnight screening on Saturday, and showing again Sunday at 7 p.m. ― is a compilation of the boldest electronica music videos, from the road rage of “Mashin’ On The Motorway” to the animated avenging duck army in “Bathtime in Clerkenwell.” The “Shots” section, Tuesday at 9 p.m., brings together some of the best advertising campaigns from 2003.
Animation figures heavily in the festival’s popularity. One of the feature films is an animation called “Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem,” the work of Leiji Matsumoto and Daft Punk, screening Wednesday at 5 p.m. Also watch for “Spike Jonze Rarities,” Monday at 9 p.m., featuring the work of the director of “Adaptation,” “Being John Malkovich” and numerous music videos.
The festival closes Thursday with “Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator,” Helen Sticker’s documentary about Mark “Gator” Rogowski, a celebrated professional skateboarder now serving a prison sentence for murder. But the festival’s closing party is the following day, Nov. 21, at Cube, a club in Apgujeong-dong.
Parties, or “networking events,” are very much a part of this festival, which in four years has grown to become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, film festivals in Seoul. Last year it drew more than 12,000 viewers. Organizers say they received 460 Korean submissions, more than the Pusan International Film Festival received from Korea.
By educating the audience, the festival has helped create a larger pool of talented Korean directors. Mr. Cho says, “We try to impress [the audience], but we also want to inspire them, and show them that these things are all within their grasp.”

MOVIE SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14
7 p.m. Opening ceremony;
Michel Gondry Retrospective
9 p.m. Opening reception
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15
1 p.m. Shorts #1
3 p.m. Korea Shorts #1,
followed by Q&A with the
filmmakers
5 p.m. Korea Motion Graphics Music Video
7 p.m. Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the
5ecret 5tar 5ystem
9 p.m. Videos That Rock
12-6 a.m. Midnight Screenings:
Korea Mobile Shorts |
Cinema Electronica | Off the Map
Shorts #2 | By Design
Free pizza and beverages
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16
1 p.m. Korea Feature: Anamorphic
3 p.m. Off the Map
5 p.m. Korea Shorts #2,
followed by Q&A
7 p.m. Cinema Electronica
9 p.m. Shorts #1
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17
11 a.m. Adobe Class: Adobe Video Collection (free)
2 p.m. Nukui Yuzi Digital Filmmaking
Workshop
7 p.m. Korea Long Shorts;
Q&A with filmmakers
9 p.m. Spike Jonze Rarities
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18
10 a.m. Discreet Class: 3D Studio Max,
Combustion (free)
2 p.m. Digital Kitchen Seminar:
Broadcast Design
7 p.m. By Design
9 p.m. Shots 2003: Best Collection
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19
10:30 a.m. Apple Class: Final Cut Pro,
Shake (free)
1:30 p.m. Avid Class: Avid DS (free)
5 p.m. Interstella 5555: The 5tory of
the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem
7 p.m. Tokyo Resmix
9 p.m. Michel Gondry Retrospective
10 p.m. Rock Concert at Samzie Space
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20
11 a.m. Pentabreed Seminar:
Interactive Motion Graphics (free)
2 p.m. Liquid Space Open Forum (free)
5-8 p.m. Liquid Space Media Art
Performance (at Alumni Hall 3rd
Floor, Yonsei University) (free)
6 p.m. Spike Jonze Rarities
8:30 p.m. Closing ceremony, followed by
“Stoked: The Rise & Fall of Gator”
10 p.m. ResFest After Party at Monghwan
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21
9 p.m. ResFest Afroking Party at Cube
-4 a.m.

by Joe Yong-hee

Individual tickets are 6,000 won ($5.10). For more information, visit the Web site at www.resfestkorea.co.kr.