Gangnam Blues(East Coast Premiere)

Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 6:30PM

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

YOO Ha,
2015. South Korea. 135 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


East Coast Premiere
Gangnam Blues (강남1970 Gang-nam-il-gu-chil-gong)
Directed by YOO Ha
Starring: LEE Min-ho, KIM Rae-won, JUNG Jin-Young
2015. South Korea. 135 min. DCP. In Korean with English subtitles. 
Thursday, May 7, 2015, 6:30PM

Directed by veteran filmmaker YOO Ha (A Dirty Carnival, A Frozen Flower), Gangnam Blues is a sleek and stylish action thriller about childhood friendship, brotherhood, and betrayal set in the 1970s, during the height of social-political turmoil. Two friends who grew up in the same orphanage, Jong-dae (TV drama star LEE Min-ho in his film debut) and Yong-gi (KIM Rae-won), struggle to make ends meet and wind up working for two competing gangs. Politicians, real estate magnates, and gangsters vie with blood for territories south of the Han river, a district that would become the world-famous and hip Gangnam. Released in January in South Korea, Gangnam Blues will stand as one of the biggest box office hits of the year.

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