Far East Film Festival in Italy

 The “Far East Film Festival” is an Italian festival dedicated to the popular Asian cinema, moreover it’s one of the most important event in this field, dedicated to the Far East in Europe. It focuses on the present and, at the same time, to the past of the Asian cinema, thanks to the 60 movies in program.

The first edition was held in 1999 in the middle of April in the city of Udine. This year the festival starts on April 19th and ends on the 27th of the same month.

 

For nine days the manifestation will take place not only in the cinemas but also in the squares, streets…everything and everyone in Udine is going to “host” one of the most awaited event of the year. It doesn’t mean only movies because people can also attend different activities, from Ikebana to Martial Art, from Japanese and Chinese courses to make up lessons, Tea Cerimony, traditional dances and many others.But this is not the end, the city will create a friendly atmosphere thanks to the organized happy hours and dj set, dedicated to the “Far East”.

Since it is a “Far East” Film Festival, there are movies from all Asia: China, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippine, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Thaiwan, Thailand, Singapore. But this edition, the 15th , is going to be really important for South Korea.

During the last editions the comedian, Michael Hei and the director, Johnnie To were awarded with lifetime achievements awards, the “Gelso d’Oro” (the “Golden Mulberry”), since they are icons and experts in this field. This year, the “Gelso d’Oro 2013” is for the great director Kim Dong-ho, who is, since years, a representative of the South Korean cinema.

There are also some information about the movies that are going to be in this festival : “Girls for Keeps” by Fukagawa Yoshihiro, a Japanese comedy and “Ip Man – The Final Fight” by Herman Yau, an other sequel dedicated to kung fu master Yip Man. These are only two titles but the list is not ended because people can see four European premieres : “A Story Of Yonosuke”(Okita Shuichi ), “The Bullet Vanishes” (Derek Yee and Lo Chi-leung), “Cold War” (Longman Leung and Sunny Luk) and “Lost In Thailand” (Xu Zheng).

More information about the movies will be added in the following weeks.

You can check the website,which is also in English.

•  Source : Far East Film Festival official website.

Yoo Ah In: “Sukjong is similar to me”

On the morning of March 27, actor Yoo Ah In expressed some of his thoughts about his role as Sukjong in the drama series Jang Okjeong, Live for Love (written by Choi Jung Mi, directed by Boo Sung Chul): “I didn’t want to miss the chance to play this character. There are analogies between the character and me, so I have an affinity with the role even though everyone tried to dissuade me from taking it. I am a little fatigued physically because I have to start filming the series right after finishing the movie Kkangcheoree.”

The director, Boo Sung Chul, says: “Yoo is a good actor who has the perfect look for the part and delivers his lines with exactly the right tone. He is the right person to play this character, and he will show the boy’s innocence with a charisma that will appeal to the viewers.”

The character Jang OkJeong (Jang Hee Bin) will be interpreted in a new way as a fashion designer of Joseon and will be shown making cosmetics in the Boyeomseo (the cosmetics manufacturing organization of Joseon).

The main members of the cast are Kim Tae hee, Yoo Ah In, Hong Su Hyun, Lee Sang Yeob, Jae hee, and Sung Dong il. The series is scheduled to begin airing on April 8.

• Source: Starnews

Girl’s Generation release a Japanese documentary: “We want to be called artists”

On March 24, the Japanese broadcaster MBS aired an interview with Girl’s Generation (Yoona, Sooyoung, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Taeyeon, Jessica, Tiffany, Sunny, and Seohyun) on its documentary program, Jounetsu Tairiku (情熱大陸). The girls talked about their work as an “idol” group: “It’s an honor for us to be called ‘idols’, but people tend to use that designation on any young singers or singing groups these days.” Sooyoung added her candid opinion, saying, “It’s difficult to distinguish between ‘idols’ and ‘artists,’ but we’d  rather be called artists.”

The program drew attention for showing Girl’s Generation’s offstage life such, their expectations for their Japan tour, and their highly focused rehearsals of their choreography.

• Source: Starnews

Today (March 27), TVXQ release their new Japanese album TIME in Korea

 

According to an announcement made by their agency, SM Entertainment, on March 27, the new Japanese album Time, by TVXQ (Yunho and Changmin), which was released in Japan on March 6, has now been released in Korea in three versions: two sets of a CD plus DVD and a CD-only version. The album sold 244,000 copies in its first week and topped the Oricon weekly chart, recording the highest sales since the group debuted in Japan. This album consists of 12 songs of various genres, including the songs from TV series “Catch Me—If You Wanna” and “Catherine III (キャサリン三世)” as well as the ending theme song, “I know,” of the drama  series Saki (サキ) on Kansai TV (関西 TV) and Fuji TV (フジテレビ TV).

TVXQ will be the first Korean singers to play the Saitama Super Arena, on April 27, and will go on to do a five-dome tour of Japan, performing at the Tokyo Dome, Kyocera Dome Osaka, Fukuoka Yahoo Japan Dome, Sapporo Dome and Nagoya Dome.

• Source: Starnews

Rainbow’s Kim Jae Kyung reveals her skill in baking

On the afternoon of March 26, Kim Jae Kyung tweeted pictures with the comment “I love macaroons, and the packaging is perfect!” In the pictures, she is smiling at the camera as she holds up a package of macaroons she baked. The pictures show some of the process of baking with the caption “Make chocolate ganache and put it in the macaroons.”

The macaroons look sweet, but Kim Jae Kyung’s clear skin and beautiful features catch more attention. Those who saw the pictures say: “Kim Jae Kyung must be a good cook.” “She is so beautiful. “ “Give me some macaroons, too.”

• Source: Starnews

Kim Hyun Joong in Tears as Tour Ends

On March 25th, during the final concert of Kim Hyun Joong’s “Unlimited” Japan Tour 2013, audience members were treated to an unusual sight… the “Break Down” singer and popular leader of ss501 broke down into tears as the concert came to an end.

An emotional Kim Hyun Joong fought back tears as he thanked his audience, . As fans continued to cheer, he finally lost control and started crying. Overcome with emotion, KHJ was unable to speak and had to wipe away his tears with a towel from the stage. As he tried to regain his composure, the delighted fans just kept cheering.

Kim Hyun Joong then went on to thank the popular rock band “Down Hell” who toured with him throughout Japan. They then closed out the tour with a cake onstage. After a final thank you and a gracious bow, KHJ gathered flowers, notes, and other items from the audience before exiting the stage.

The “Unlimited” Japan Tour 2013 was Kim Hyun Joong’s second tour in Japan as a solo artist. The singer has also performed in Peru and Brazil in the past month.

Breaking Down Borders: How K-pop is Taking Over the World

Big Bang recently completed their 1st world tour with 48 shows in 13 different countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom

While some people may not consider music to be a healing power of nations, we have certainly seen evidence of that very fact within recent years. Thanks to the internet, our everyday lives have expanded to include other countries and cultures. Young people have a desire to travel and experience the world.  Ethnic restaurants are on every corner, international supermarkets are common and a fascination with foreign languages is at an all-time high. Slowly but surely, the young people of the world are pulling together by finding common interests in everything from fashion to movies.

At the forefront of this global movement is music. With the recent rise of stars like Pitbull, Shinhwa, Shakira and PSY, people have been exposed to bilingual songs, where a mixture of languages and rhythms work together to form a more universal music. Whether it includes a smattering of English, Korean, Japanese or Spanish, there is often enough of any language to appeal to people from many different countries, ranging from Brazil, the United States, Turkey or Japan.

Within the last decade, K-pop has proven itself to be the leader of this movement- a tidal wave of Korean culture slowly washing its way over the globe.  K-pop artists have become experts at appealing to all cultures- their fashion a charming mix of reality and fantasy, their music an alluring blend of everything from rap to techno, their natural, fresh beauty appealing to people all over the globe and their youth and vitality inspiring the youngest generation of music lovers. It is a music genre which knows no boundaries and has been happily embraced by people all over the world.

The overwhelming popularity of K-pop has greatly helped in healing relations between Japanese and Korean people and conquering former prejudices from the past. It has brought tourism and considerable income to the South Korean economy. Thanks to the internet and websites like youtube,  in the past few years, K-pop has branched further out of Asia to reach all the way to Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Every day, netizens are discovering groups like B.A.P., ss501, 2ne1 and Super Junior, thus thrusting them into the fascinating world of K-pop and converting them into instant fans.

Whether it is the breaking down of such racial and cultural boundaries which has allowed K-pop to garner such success or if it’s that K-pop and other multilingual artists are the ones who have advanced the breaking down of such barriers, the simple truth remains… K-pop is in the height of its popularity and shows no signs of slowing down! So, we simply put on our Big Bang cd, sit back, and watch with pleasure as the Korean tidal wave continues rushing over the globe, washing away borders as it goes.