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The Busan Film Festival Visits the U.S.

The Busan Film Festival and the Chapman University Dodge College of Film and Media Arts have formed a partnership to screen Korean films at the U.S. campus. The university, located in Orange California, will screen a select number of contemporary and classic films designed to introduce U.S. audience to Korean culture and its burgeoning repertoire of high quality films. The Dodge College of Film and Media Art, one of the best film schools in the U.S. already has a student exchange relationship with the Seoul Institute of Arts and has just signed a similar agreement with the Im Kwon-taek College of Performing Arts in Busan.

For the inaugural showcase, some of Korea's best known directors will attend. "A Bittersweet Life" director Kim Jee-woon will present the director's cut of the film at the event. Park Chan-wook, whose film "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" has just made it into Britan's The Times' top 100 list, will be presented with the First, Pusan West Icon award. The director's film "Thirst" will also be screening at the Showcase. Director LEE Doo-yong will also be attendance with a retrospective of two of his films "First Son" (1984) and "Last Witness" (1980).

The U.S. market has always been a hard nut for Korean films to crack. Korean films have had some success, such as PARK's release of "Thirst" in the U.S. this year, but these have always been limited releases at select cinemas or only on DVD. The showcase will bring a relatively large selection of Korean films to a new audience in a region known for its vast number of Korean citizens. The Chapman Busan West Showcase will screen November 20 to the 22nd of this month.

David Oxenbridge (KOFIC)

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