Cannes’ best from 2004-05 to screen in Seoul festival

For the film industry, it’s an exciting time of the year once again. With the opening of the Cannes International Film Festival less than a week away, the festive spirit is also richly alive in the Korean cinema community.
Sponge, a filmmaker and a distributor, is holding a film festival during the same period Cannes is on, from May 17 to 28. It will not show the same films as at Cannes 2006, of course, but the domestic group says it will present a line-up drawn from the best at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2005 and 2004.
A few of the films, such as “Hidden,” were released in Seoul theaters, but it is the first time local moviegoers will be able to watch a series of Cannes awarding-winning works in cinemas here.
“This is an event to provide moviegoers almost the same excitement [as Cannes] without having to leave Seoul,” said Yeh Mi-suk, promoter of the event “Cannes in Seoul.”
The Seoul festival will be held at the Apgujeong branch of the Sponge House, one of the two in-house theaters the group opened this year.
The official line-up for “Cannes in Seoul” features 10 films including “Bad Education,” directed by Pedro Almodovar and starring Gael Garcia Bernal, and “Clean” by Olivier Assayas and featuring Maggie Cheung.
Director Agnes Jaoui’s “Look At Me,” Hans Weingartner’s “Eukator,” Jim Jarmusch’s “Broken Flowers,” Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s “The Child,” Wim Wenders’ “Don’t Come Knocking,” Michael Haneke’s “Hidden,” Gus Van Sant’s “Last Days” and Dominik Moll’s “Lemming” round out the line-up.
The theater will show three films a day, at 4:10 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 8:50 p.m.
On weekends, there will be two additional screenings at 11:30 a.m. and 1:50 p.m.

by Lee Min-a

For directions to the Sponge House in Apgujeong, visit: www.spongehouse.com or call (02) 3444-6640 for more information.