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Closing of the Festival KFF : The first edition is a great success

Korean Film Festival in Canada promises its bright continuation in receiving the public's heartfelt welcoming

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Montreal, July 12, 2013 – The 1st edition of the Korean Film Festival (KFF) in Canada closed with tremendous success on Wednesday July 10, 2013.  In partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Ottawa, the KFF, as a touring film festival, made its mark in five Canadian cities this summer: Calgary, Edmonton, and Regina, and settling in Ottawa and Montreal for its major events with a total of 15 films. The invited films were comprised of a selection of remarkable blockbusters and critically acclaimed films, including five award-winning short films specially chosen from the Mise-en-Scene Short Film Festival (MSFF). There were also complimentary cultural events that were open to the general public, including: a specialfilm screening, seminars on Korean language and culture, and special performances highlighting Korean culture and creative arts as a part of the celebrations for 'Korean Week'.

Held as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Korea, this 1st edition of the Korean Film Festival  in Canada was very fortunate to welcome many first time festival-goers and cinephiles of all ages and culture to come together and experience diversified cultural sharing through the KFF. With various events and screenings, the festival recorded a total of 25,000 attendees. Specifically, Montreal recorded the most with 15,000 attendees: 85% of the audience were francophones and anglophones, while the rest were from other communities.

The KFF in Montreal was the most successful in reaching the public. For the Cineplex Odeon Forum in downtown, majority of the seats in the theatre were filled. The Montreal Botanical Garden, for the first time, held a film festival in the Henri-Teuscher Auditorium. This gave an opportunity to open and serve filmgoers in the East part of Montreal. In addition, festival-goers at the Montreal Botanical Garden were able to participate in calligraphy workshops and dress up in traditional Korean clothing, Hanbok: Both were widely popular with the public, ranging from all age groups. The organizer promises to keep up its uniqueness as a touring film festival in North American cities and bring the best films to our public in the coming years.

A heartfelt thanks goes out to the audience for their great support, the Cineplex Odeon Forum and the Montreal Botanical Garden for the venues, as well as support from government agencies, medias, film industries and film professionals; the KFF was hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and organized by Ciné-Asie, a Montreal-based non-profit media arts organization.  

The organizers of the festival was very honoured to have the presence of the following special guests throughout the time of the KFF:

Hee-yong Cho, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Canada

Donghwan Choi, Consul General of the Republic of Korea to Montreal and Ambassador to ICAO, who kindly welcomed the launch of the KFF at the opening screening.  

Natalie Chung, journalist and presenter for Radio-Canada, who acted as a guest presenter and announced the beginning of the KFF during the opening screening.

Hye-jung Jeon, Artistic Director of the London Korean Film Festival, an advisor of the Korean Film Festival

Hun Bang, Artistic Director of the Quebec-Korea Cultural Society, who held a seminar during the Avant-Premiere KFF event on Korean culture and the cultural relationship between Quebec and Korea.

Myunghee Kim, Professor at McGill University, held a seminar during the Avant-Premiere KFF event about the Korean language.

The Korean Film Festival gratefully acknowledges all its generous sponsors, collaborators, and partners: the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Ottawa, the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Montreal, , CIC (Citizenship and Immigration of Canada), Mosaicultures Internationales de Montreal, Montreal Botanical Garden, Cineplex Odeon Forum, Korean Week, Korean Film Council (KOFIC), Nongshim, HanCinema.net, DramaFever, Canadian Film Institute in Ottawa, CinéMagic, Korean NewsWeek, Luby Weekly Chinese Newspaper, La Presse Chinoise, Lotte Entertainment, Finecut Films, Metropole Films Montreal, CJ Entertainment, Mongrel Media, Well Go USA, Criterion Pictures, IXION Communications, Kam Fung Restaurant, and all the supporters.  

About Ciné-Asie

Ciné-Asie is a Montreal-based non-profit organization that specializes in promoting Asian and Canadian media arts and cinema. Founded in 1996, Ciné-Asie aims to bridge the gap in film exchange between Canada and Asia. This is to support the works of independent Canadian producers and to promote intercultural exchange through cinema. Ciné-Asie hopes to continue to increase public awareness in Asian culture and film.

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