Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 6:30PM

Asia Society
(725 Park Avenue at 70th Street, NYC)

PARK Jung-bum,
2014. South Korea. 175 min

KOREAN CULTURAL SERVICE NY and ASIA SOCIETY
present
Korean Movie Night New York’s April-May 2015 Series

Emerging Talent
Screenings at
Asia Society
725 Park Avenue at 70th Street
New York City
Free Admission

Korean Cultural Service NY and Asia Society are proud to announce Korean Movie Night New York’s April-May 2015 series: Emerging Talent. The series of 5 films celebrates emerging filmmakers and actors in contemporary Korean cinema and will run from April 14 to May 27, 2015 at the Asia Society. Free admission for all screenings.

While mainstream, big-budget films have dominated the Korean film market, young directors are finding room to make independent films that prove to be no less creative and inspiring despite fewer resources. Four films in this series, The King of Jokgu (Woo Moon-gi), 10 Minutes (Lee Yong-seung), Fatal (Lee Don-ku), and Alive (Park Jung-bum), are independently financed projects. Director Park Jung-bum doubles as the acting lead in Alive to impressive result. The series also includes Gangnam Blues (Yoo Ha), which features the young and hugely popular actor Lee Min-ho in his feature film debut. Known as a TV drama (City Hunter, The Heirs) heartthrob, Lee transitioned to the big screen with great fanfare in this action thriller by veteran director Yoo Ha.

The films in this series follow a coming of age theme. Youthful dreams give way to adult reality in The King of Jokgu and 10 Minutes; life-altering experiences threaten to spin out of control in Fatal and Alive; and a childhood bond is tested as two friends grow apart in Gangnam Blues.

Korean Movie Night New York is an ongoing, approximately twice-a-month film program that introduces the full spectrum of contemporary and classic Korean cinema to New York audiences, from popular blockbusters, independent films, and documentaries to animation and family movies. The series is co-presented by Korean Cultural Service NY and Asia Society. For information on the series, visit our website at www. Koreanculture.org or www.asiasociety.org/korean-movie-night. Like us on FaceBook: Facebook.com/KoreanMovieNY. All screenings take place at Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street, New York City. All events are free admission, first come, first served. For information, call 212-517-2742.

For stills, please contact Jean Jo (212) 759-9550 (ext. 207) / jjo@Koreanculture.org or Elaine Merguerian at 212-327-9313 / elainem@asiasociety.org. For screeners, please contact film curator Kyungmi Kim (646) 925-6149 or kyungmi007@gmail.com

Alive (산다 San-da)
Directed by PARK Jung-bum
Starring: LEE Seung-yeon, PARK Jung-bum, PARK Myeong-hoon
2014. South Korea. 175 min. DCP. In Korean with English subtitles.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 6:30PM

A follow up to Park Jung-bum’s powerful debut neorealist drama The Journals of Musan, Alive is a continuation of the director/writer/actor’s exploration of the issues of poverty, inequality, and human suffering in contemporary capitalist societies. In this film, he portrays a construction worker in the Gangwon province who tries to make ends meet and support his mentally unstable sister and young niece. The more effort he puts into improving their living condition, the more odds stack up against him. The film offers a powerful portrait of survival in the worst circumstances and conveys PARK’s compassion for those struggling on the margins of society.