Hong retrospective to be held at Harvard

Hong Sang-soo

By Ines Min

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Acclaimed director Hong Sang-soo will be featured in a retrospective at Harvard University's Film Archive from Jan. 31 to Feb. 7.

Hosted in conjunction with the university's Korea Institute, the retrospective "Play it as it Lays" will screen eight of the director's 11 works.

Earlier films such as "The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well" (1996), "The Power of Kangwon Province" (1998) and "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors" (2000) will play, as well as the 2010 "Ha Ha Ha" and "Oki's Movie". "Hahaha" gained recognition in the West after winning the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Hong will also present his works in person on Feb. 4 and 5.

This is the film archive's third year to introduce a Korean director through the school. The archive featured Bong Joon-ho ("Mother - 2009") last year and Lee Chang-dong ("Poetry") in 2009.

The Korea Film Council supplied English subtitles to "The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well" and three other films for the event.

Born in Seoul in 1960, Hong studied filmmaking at Chungang University and earned degrees from both the California College of the Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago.

After returning to Korea, he taught screenwriting and began his filmmaking career. Since his first film, "The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well", he has been acclaimed as a prolific filmmaker both in Korea and internationally for his narrative style.