#feffupyourlife

[fareastfilm]

FEFF CAMPUS WORKSHOP

“How do I write?”

Mathew Scott, coordinator of the FEFF Campus

Anna Ellis-Rees & Jane Yao

[cinevision-blog]

Far East Film Festival 21 - FEFF UP YOUR LIFE Dying to survive by WEN Muye (Cina) Una meravigliosa rivelazione quella di stasera al Far East Film Festival, Dying to survive riesce ad essere all’altezza di un tema molto delicato e complicato come quello della povertà, in particolare in Cina. Tratto da fatti realmente accaduti, il film racconta della trasformazione di un uomo, interpretato da un bravissimo Xu Zheng, che per motivi di denaro decide di improvvisarsi contrabbandiere di un medicinale proveniente dall’India, e vietato dal governo cinese che invece cerca di proteggere la versione originale il cui costo però risulta essere insostenibile dalla maggiorparte della popolazione. Tale vicenda porterà il protagonista di fronte a una realtà meschina e di forte povertà che gli farà mettere in discussione molti dei valori che fino a tale momento guidavano la sua vita. Un opera dal grande impatto drammatico, che riesce, dopo una parte iniziale decisamente improntata sulla commedia, a cambiare drasticamente i toni e affrontare nel giusto modo un tema molto discusso e controverso, quale l’etica che sta dietro alle case farmaceutiche che si rifiutano di guardare in faccia a nessuno e un sistema sanitario che per molto tempo si è rifiutato di affrontare tale situazione. Un opera quindi drammatica, ma che allo stesso tempo riesce a essere anche speranzosa, sopratutto nella parte finale. Dal punto di vista filmico, la pellicola si presenta con una buona regia, dinamica e in alcuni punti eccentrica e una sceneggiatura veramente ben studiata seppur, in alcuni momenti, decisamente sopra le righe. Da menzionare anche una meravigliosa colonna sonora che riesce a dare il meglio di sè nei momenti di forte drammaticità. Un film quindi che vi consiglio assolutamente, con un forte messaggio morale e sono sicuro saprà sicuramente commuovervi. #feff #feff21 #fareastfilmfestival #reviewfilm #dyingtosurvive #moviereview #recensionifilm #feffupyourlife #asianfilms #udinefareastfilmfestival #festivalfilm #udine #feffudine #filmcina #cinafilms (at Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw23giyl2k6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12yrn03a53b2z

[fareastfilm]

REVIEW: BIRTHDAY

By Jane R. Yao 

On April 16, 2014, many South Korean lives were changed forever. The Sewol ferry disaster stunned the nation as the 6,825-ton ship sunk into darkness taking the lives of more than 300 victims. The man-made disaster, among the worst in South Korea’s modern history, was especially heartbreaking as most of those trapped under water were teenagers.  The captain, Lee Joon-Seok, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of gross negligence for abandoning passengers onboard. He was sentenced to 36 years in prison.

The emotional Birthday, written by director Lee Jong-Eon and produced by Lee Chang-Dong (Burning) was chosen as the opening film at the 21st Far East Film Festival in Udine. With its international premiere, this powerful film commemorates the fifth anniversary of the Sewol tragedy.

Four years ago, Lee wrote the script and made a documentary to express her condolences for the families of the Sewol incident. Her debut feature, Birthday focuses on one victim’s family and portrays their journey through the mourning of the loss of their beloved son, Su-Ho. It captures and constructs the sensitive and sentimental emotions after such a tragedy. Su-Ho’s sister Ye-Sol’s grief is intensified as she observes the dramatic changes in her parents. They are simply not able to step out from the dark shadow of their son’s death. As the years pass, they lose their inner compass, and the family begins to fall apart. The film is laced with symbolism showcasing the struggle between hopelessness and helplessness.

Jeon Do-Yeon (Secret Sunshine, directed by Lee Chang-Dong) is excellent as Su-Ho’s mother Soon-Nam, in a performance that exemplifies the sorrow of a mother grieving the loss of her child. In real life, Jeon is both a wife and a mother, and she clearly leans on these experiences in bringing authentic emotion to the role of the victim’s mother. “When I received the script, I wasn’t sure if I [was] going to do it. I observed the whole tragedy in front of me on the TV, and I [couldn’t] do anything but watch, that’s the tragic drama for me,” Jeon shared at Udine. “After I read through the script, I decided to accept it. It’s not just to share the pain of it, but more particularly to look towards the future.”

The film sets Su-Ho's birthday as the destination and Lee weaves in a few narrative hints that lead us to this last sequence. A broken door light that could be Su-Ho returning,  Sol Kyung-gu (Oasis) as Su-Ho’s father Jung-Il finding his son's empty passport and taking it to customs to beg for a stamp in order to fulfill his son’s last wish, and Ye-Sol asking for half a waffle for her brother are some of those hints. Sol portrays the struggle between hopeless and helpless gracefully, particularly when he realises that he wears the same size shoes as his son. It’s an understated and moving performance that displays sensitivity and regret.

The profound final event entirely captures audiences’ sympathies and pushes grief-stricken emotional waves to their peaks. “The last birthday scene wasn't invented. It was shot in the real venue where the victims’ families meet up together on each victim’s birthday, to memorialise them. Every time, the 65 survivors would participate in the event, and express their grief,” director Lee explained. “That scene was only shot twice. The first time it was shot in sequence, while the second time it was shot without any interruption. I wanted to maintain the characters’ emotions. Everyone was in the same rhythm… while we were in the room.”

Birthday had its domestic release on April 4 and climbed to the top of the box office with a total of $5.65 million dollars in takings. It began as a film dedicated to the victim’s families, but through its success, it has affected an entire nation again.

[fareastfilm]

REVIEW: BODIES AT REST

By Arman Fatic

Finnish-born director Renny Harlin had quite a successful Hollywood career back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, with big action and horror titles such as Die Hard 2, A Nightmare on Elm Street IV, and Cliffhanger.  He then fell off the radar for some time until the relocation of his life and work to China a few years ago.

Now, with Bodies at Rest, the third movie in his Far Eastern career, Harlin is revisiting his testosterone-infused, blood spilling, crime action roots after almost three decades. The reason for this comeback is none other than an unproduced Hollywood script by David Lesser, bought by Wanda Media and then refurbished for Eastern audiences.

The film opens up with neon-lit shot of Hong Kong, and a couple of seconds in it throws us into its soon to be closed location, the morgue. There, the widower pathologist Nick Chan (Nick Cheung) and his sexy-and-smart intern Lynn (Yang Zi) are working the graveyard shift on Christmas Eve. It all looks like another chilling night at work until a jolly gang of loony-for-no-reason Rudolph (Feng Jiayi), no-stomach-for-dirt Elf (Carlos Chan) and no-mercy-all-pride leader Santa (Richie Jen) barge into the morgue and start making trouble. This trio wants to retrieve a bullet from a corpse related to one specific crime, but brave-hearted Nick just can’t let them do that.

Over the course of the next hour and a half, the movie just goes out of its way to try and nail every single good old ‘90s Hollywood movie cliché. Bodies is driven by either glass-shattering physical action scenes, or by all-of-a-sudden twists. There are also a couple of good old-fashioned fantasy flash-forwards/flashback sequences in an attempt to keep viewers off balance as to what is going on and to add a bit more crime mystery and keep them engaged.

For those who won’t be satisfied with just regular lockdown survivor action, Bodies at Rest offers bits and pieces of washed out comedy on the side: the janitor not noticing that all hell broke loose, pathologist openly tells the robbers that the bank is across the street. Cheesy comedy just shows that this is a movie which doesn’t take itself seriously, so it’s really hard to be picky about underdeveloped plotting and random irrational choices that most characters do in this film.

The same can’t be said about the action sequences that can get too quick and chaotic, it is hard to follow what is actually happening. When the movie has so few characters and every single one of them counts, waiting for the dust to settle to know what happened isn’t really satisfying.  In the end, does it even matter? With distribution scheduled for a third quarter of 2019. Bodies at Rest is a solid, forgettable nostalgia flick for all those action movie buffs with nothing better to do during hot summer days.

[fareastfilm]

FEFF CAMPUS chilling @ Pratone

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Far East Film Festival 21 - FEFF UP YOUR LIFE! Every day a good day by Omori Tatsushi (Giappone) Every day a good day racconta di una ragazza che inizia da giovane a frequentare lezioni di cerimonia del tè e mostra come questa attività, che la accompagnerà per tutta la vita, influenzerà gli avvenimenti della sua vita e di come la filosofia che sta dietro a tali pratiche le sarà poi utile nell’affrontare i problemi che la vita le metterà di fronte. Tantissime sono le perle di saggezza che questo film sarà in grado di donarci, tutto ci viene non solo raccontato ma anche mostrato utilizzando tutta l’efficacia e la potenza che il cinema può offrirci. Perchè sì, a mio parere, è anche un opera sulla potenza del mezzo cinematografico come strumento in grado di renderci partecipi in prima persona della crescita spirituale della protagonista, ma anche in grado di mostrarci i più piccoli dettagli dell’universo. Un opera di profonda sensibilità e grazia che riesce a commuovere ponendo l’attenzione su momenti semplicissimi, come il suono dell’acqua che batte sul suolo, il calore dell’estate, il freddo gelido dell’inverno o l’enorme complessità che sta dietro la struttura di un semplice fiore. Un film che consiglio molto caldamente di recuperare, e che sono sicuro saprà, in un modo o nell’altro, entrare in profondità e raccontare aspetti della vita che magari non avevate mai notato prima d’ora. #feff #feff21 #fareastfilmfestival #everydayagoodday #reviewfilm #moviereview #recensionifilm #feffupyourlife #asianfilm #asianfilms #filmjapan #festivalfilm #udine #feffudine https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw0VMaqlpmk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=untjvg446bpo

[fareastfilm]

#FEFF21 line-up has just been announced at Visionario! Are you excited as we are? 🤩

[fareastfilm]

STILL HUMAN TRIUMPHS

FEFF audiences and Black Dragon pass holders crown Hong Kong the winner

In second place, Chinese black comedy Dying to Survive, and in third position Korean blockbuster Extreme Job. FEFF 21 ends with 60,000 attendees, plus over 20,000 visitors to FEFF Events around the city.

"We live on the other side of the world and we were worried that our film wouldn't be understood. But the world speaks a single language: the language of love..." These were the words of excited and radiant young actress Crisel Consunji on the triumph of Hong Kong film Still Human at the Far East Film Festival 21, as she shared the stage and the applause of the Teatro Nuovo with director Oliver Chan and monumental protagonist Anthony Wong (already winner of a Golden Mulberry Award for Outstanding Achievement).

The public were in no doubt about the winner, and neither were the Black Dragon pass holders, who gave Still Human the Critics Award. In second place came Chinese black comedy Dying To Survive, and in third position Korean blockbuster Extreme Job. Finally, the White Mulberry award for First Film went to Melancholic by Japanese newcomer Tanaka Seiji, while readers of MYmovies.it opted instead for another Japanese film, Takeuchi Hideki's Fly Me To Saitama.

9 days. Screenings of 77 films that describe the present and look to the future. 3 world premieres - and 14 first films - that demonstrate the central position Udine has earned itself in the Asian film market. This is the Far East Film Festival and this –  in a slightly reductive form - is the balance sheet of the twenty-first edition.

This year, the Silk Road brought 60,000 spectators, 200 guest stars from Asia (including, let's not forget, superstars Jeon Do-Yeon, Yao Chen and Anthony Wong) and 200 professionals from the Asian and European film industry (sales agents, buyers, key players of the international Ties That Bind workshop and of the Focus Asia project market) to the "Giovanni da Udine" Teatro Nuovo and the Cinema Centrale.

Add to that the 1,600 pass holders (including journalists, teachers, students and ambassadors from other festivals) from over 20 countries: Italy, Holland, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, the United States, France, Belgium, Switzerland, China, Canada , Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Norway, South Korea, Czech Republic, Brazil, Sweden and Serbia.

And despite the slightly less-than-inviting weather, FEFF 21 has also had a decidedly positive effect on the city: the packed FEFF Events programme of over 100 events, including the now traditional Cosplay Contest, brought in over 20,000 attendees. And we mustn't forget the festival's extremely active social media community, which once again this year numbered thousands of fans (30,000 on Facebook alone).

But in spite of these results and indicators of growth, and despite an international reputation which each year grows more solid and the festival's significant local economic impact, the FEFF continues to face deep cuts in public funding: this year, the organisation was forced to organise the festival with over 150,000 euros less than in 2018. And it goes without saying that it is impossible to maintain and protect the standards acquired over the last twenty years if this haemorrhaging of vital resources should continue. For the moment, the FEFF is holding out – which is to say, is working miracles - thanks in part to the indispensable commitment of its volunteers. But an event as complex and ramified as the FEFF needs a different kind of institutional approach if it is to look confidently to the future. And the future, of course, means next year's edition.

So all that's left to do is make a date in Udine for the Far East Film Festival 22, from the 24 April to the 2 May 2020!

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Far East Film Festival 21 - FEFF UP YOUR LIFE A home with view by Herman YAU (Hong Kong) Una famiglia trova la pace dopo aver trovato un appartamento con vista mare e sulla città. In seguito però all’affissione illegale di un cartellone che gli ostacola la vista, la famiglia impazzisce e inizia a cercare ogni modo possibile per poterlo togliere, arrivando ad un certo punto a ricorrere a modi tutt'altro che convenzionali. Il film è costruito come una commedia che cerca di far leva su argomenti poco etici e trattarli in modo appositamente comico per ottenerne un effetto di comicità irriverente e poco convenzionale. Peccato che, a mio parere, ll’obiettivo viene mancato totalmente e oltre a fare un tipo di comicità che personalmente non sopporto ma che magari a qualcuno può piacere, scherza su temi in un modo che personalmente ha infastidito. In definita una commedia che ho trovato di cattivo gusto. #ahomewithview #reviewfilm #feff #feff21 #fareastfilmfestival #moviereview #recensionifilm#feffupyourlife #asianfilm #asianfilms #festivalfilm #udine #feffudine (at Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxDej_JlSla/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qxfzc57ugilf

[cinevision-blog]

Far East Film Festival 21 - FEFF UP YOUR LIFE Signal Rock by Chito S. ROÑO (Filippine) Il ragazzo Intoy vive in un isola “fuori dal mondo” nelle Filippine. Ogni giorno comunica con sua sorella Vicky, emigrata in Finlandia e sposata con un uomo ricco del luogo, tramite un telefono primordiale in un una particolare parte dell'isola, a forma di roccia, unico luogo dove i telefoni prendono il segnale. La famiglia vive anche grazie ai soldi che la sorella trasferisce dalla Finlandia. Un giorno Vicky avvisa il fratello di essere fuggita di casa con la sua piccola figlia in seguito ad una violenta lite con il marito. Seguiranno mirabolanti imprese per poter dimostrare che la madre, Vicky, è in grado di badare al figlio. Intoy coinvolgerà l’intero villaggio per poter recuperare i documenti e le prove necessarie. Un intenso dramma ci mette di fronte a una situazione molto comune e a una realtà completamente diversa dalla nostra, dove tutto avviene con ritmi molto più lenti e con una semplicità disarmante, incredibile la scena ambientata nella prigione dove le porte quasi nemmeno esistono. Tecnicamente pessimo, probabilmente per la mancanza di mezzi, una fotografia grezza e dei movimenti di macchina a volte poco fluidi e naturali, ma un film sicuramente importante per il cinema Filippino. #signalrock #reviewfilm #feff #feff21 #fareastfilmfestival #moviereview #recensionifilm#feffupyourlife #asianfilm #asianfilms #festivalfilm #udine #feffudine (at Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxDduTUlDC4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=i35empzczu02

[fareastfilm]

FEFF CAMPUS STYLE 😎

[fareastfilm]

FEFF CAMPUS @ “100 years of Korean cinema” lecture

[fareastfilm]

FEFF CAMPUS AROUND THE CITY 🚶🚶‍♀️

Our 10 journalists, together with Tom and Rossella, spent a really nice morning around Udine.

Enjoying their free time, learning something new about the city and eating traditional Italian food.

[fareastfilm]

Jeon Do-Yeon: Shining star

by Min Woo Park

Korea’s brightest star lit up the opening of this year’s 21st Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, as Jeon Do-Yeon graced the stage on opening night, collecting her Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement with an emotional thank-you speech that followed a tribute to her acclaimed career that had played out on the big screen behind her. Jeon has been a leading light across the Korean film industry’s global rise over the past two decades, picking up the best actress award at Cannes for her role in the taut Lee Chang-Dong-directed drama ‘Secret Sunshine’ (2007), while testing her skills across a wide range of genres.

In Udine, Jeon presented the world festival premiere of what arguably must have been her toughest role yet – on both a personal and professional level - as the bereaved mother in first-time director Lee Jong-Un’s ‘Birthday’. The film held the audience inside FEFF’s Teatro Nuovo gripped with a tale of how individuals – and maybe a nation – deals with grief that has its heart set around the Sewol ferry disaster of 2014 that claimed more than 300 lives, the majority of them school children.

The day after its opening night screening, Jeon sat down to explain why she took on the role, and why she thinks Lee’s film has an important role to play as Korea still deals with the disaster, five years on.

“Actually, I rejected this project at the first time, but I changed my mind,” said Jeon. “As a person, I also had trauma about Sewol ferry tragedy because I could only watch as it was broadcast on live TV at that time. So I had avoided getting involved and thinking about this tragedy. I said no to this project, but my heart was saying I should’ve done it because some people maybe still have to continue living their lives. So maybe this movie can bring hope to them.”

Jeon compared her role with her acclaimed turn in ‘Secret Sunshine’ in terms of the similar characters she played, both having  lost a family member. The actress believes the time that passed in between the two roles changed her from someone who was guessing how such a character might feel, to knowing. “At the time of shooting ‘Secret Sunshine’, I wasn't married, and it was painful to express such sad feelings as those of a grieving mother,” said Jeon. “But by the time of ‘Birthday’, I had got married, and I knew what this feeling of losing my child really would be, as a wife and mother. Also, I was worried that the sad feelings about the Sewol tragedy would be so big that I would exaggerate them beyond the character Soon-Nam’s emotions. I tried to keep an objective point of view and not exaggerate my character.”‘Birthday’ is about the families the vicstims of the disaster left behind, who still carry the pain and wound of the Sewol ferry tragedy. “Of course, I was aware that this story is a really painful on to tell and I realised I needed courage to face this tragedy but the movie is also about how to support people whose emotional wounds continue to affect their lives beyond the one tragedy,” said Jeon. “ So, it can be my story, but also it can be everybody’s story as well. I just want this movie to comfort them.”

Jeon also revealed she hoped that her work might inspire the emerging generation of Korean actors.

“I’m sure I’ll be acting for the rest of my life,” she said. “Acting is different for everybody, and expressing is different or everybody. Acting doesn’t have to be the same for everybody. It is a way for free spirits to express themselves.”

[fareastfilm]

#FEFFTALK

🎥 Intimate Strangers 

Jae-kyoo LEE & Charles PARK 

HIGHLIGHTS: Charles Park explains how, after seeing the Italian version of the movie (Perfetti Sconosciuti), he thought about creating a Korean one, because the themes are common both for European and Asian audience. They strictly followed the original, except for some jokes, which were adapted to the Asian sense of humour.

The Lee Jae-kyoo didn’t know how the Italian audience would react to the remake, but he was satisfied to see a very positive reaction.

FUN FACT: In the movie the characters eat tiramisù, a tribute to Italy wanted by the director. He also announces that his next work will be a TV series about zombies and the life of a teenager.

Cristina Senesi & Gaia Caiello

[fareastfilm]

INTERVIEW WITH KONG HYO-JIN

🎥 Door Lock

In the movie you play a shy girl who’s living alone, scared of the outside world. Even though in the beginning we meet a fearful character, in the end we can notice a growth and a big change. Can you describe the evolution of your character?

Until now, for almost 20 years, I’ve always played strong women, positive minded characters. This time I accepted the role of a very weak girl instead; she may be hiding a need for attention behind her fears. That’s why I didn’t want to point out her growth or her renewed strength because she’s a weak character and I want her to be still perceived that way. The most important thing for the audience, whether it’s men or women, is the identification with the character.

The movie is a thriller which represents the constant fear women live in and the dangers which hide behind living alone. How did you prepare for this role? Nowadays what is the condition of women in the Korean society?

The protagonist of Door Lock lives in fear. My question was “is it really so scary to live all alone?”. My character even leaves a pair of man shoes outside her front door to give the impression she has a partner. Before working on this movie, I thought it was an exaggeration, I thought these were images created by people’s ignorance, but after speaking with the director I started collecting information, watching documentaries and I discovered a really dark reality. For example, when they go back home, many girls wait a bit before turning on the lights, not to let other people know they are back home. Many people among the audience live on their own and could identify themselves with the movie. Moreover, the director took inspiration from the movie Bed Time and I could see it too.

This movie is the metaphor of uncertainty and job insecurity. In your opinion, does this image reflect reality in nowadays’ Korea?

I’m quite sure that the movie has dramatised a lot of aspects. Usually in the suburbs people can rely on police to feel safe. Non all Korean girls live like that, maybe the image the movie gives is not so truthful afterall.

Gaia Caiello e Cristina Senesi