Being vegetarian in Korea is difficult, and being vegan is just putting undue hardships on oneself -- or so go the few dozen conversations I’ve had over the last few years in Seoul since I switched to a pescatarian diet. In truth, a diet in which you cut out large swathes of food is going to be difficult anywhere -- so I hear from gluten-free and paleo diet friends alike. But Korea may be a unique situation. “What can you eat at a Korean restaurant?” I asked a vegan friend. “Mostly plain bibimba

Social Affairs June 16, 2017

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- The Jeonju International Film Festival invited a few guests with an interesting perspective this year -- the first foreign rock band to perform in North Korea and the team that documented the occasion.　“We had the feeling that they were pretty tense about having us here,” Morten Traavik, director of documentary musical “Liberation Day,” says of the festival organizers to The Korea Herald. “We really have the clear feeling that they are a little bit on edge.”　Traa

Film May 4, 2017

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Director Laura Schroeder has grabbed attention with her second feature film, “Barrage,” bringing together the real-life mother and daughter pair of French star Isabelle Huppert and Lolita Chammah. The film had its Asian premiere Friday and is competing against nine others in the international competition of the Jeonju International Film Festival. Schroeder spoke with The Korea Herald there at a coffeehouse on Saturday.Laura Schroeder, director of “Barrage” (JIFF)

Film April 30, 2017

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Eleven films were selected from among the initial 128 Korean features submitted for this year’s Korean Competition at the Jeonju International Film Festival, in a contest highlighting Korea’s flourishing independent film scene. The features submitted “were filmed with dramatically microscopic views compared to previous years,” according to festival organizers. The respective directors this year seem to have each taken an issue and focused on it with laser-like in

Film April 27, 2017

As Hollywood was making its final preparations for the glitz, glamor -- and gaffes -- of this year’s Oscars, on Saturday the film world’s purveyors of lower-budget films gathered in Santa Monica, California, for the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Among those in attendance was Andrew Ahn, who won the John Cassavetes Award presented for the best feature film with a budget under $500,000 for “Spa Night,” and who was also a nominee for the Someone to Watch Award.“Spa Night,” a story Ahn called

Film Feb. 28, 2017

“Our Love Story” is an exceptional work that portrays a mostly unexceptional love story. Director Lee Hyun-ju’s debut feature centers on Yoon-ju, a quiet 32-year-old art graduate student played by Lee Sang-hee, who says she has “never had time for dating.” Her priorities are shaken up, though, following chance encounters with the person who makes her want to make the time -- the more outgoing waitress and bartender Ji-soo, played by Ryu Sun-young.“Our Love Story” has already won acclaim in Korea

Film Nov. 17, 2016

Busan -- Director Yannis Sakaridis portrays a Greece in crisis through the prism of one small Athens neighborhood in “Amerika Square,” which held its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival on Tuesday.The director sat down alongside actor Yannis Stankoglou, who plays coffee bar and tattoo parlor owner Billy, with The Korea Herald before the premiere.“(Amerika Square) was the Via Veneto of Athens -- a lot of artists ... actors, all the sort of cultural establishment was there,” Sa

Film Oct. 13, 2016

BUSAN -- Huge blockbuster hits keep churning out of Korean cinema in recent years, and all the while Korea’s indie film scene keeps on producing quality films exploring aspects of Korean life on a smaller budget, if no less a smaller scale.This year’s Busan International Film Fest, running Oct. 6-15, presents 301 films from 69 countries, maintaining its position as Asia’s largest. In addition to international cinema and local blockbusters, the spotlight will also shine on lesser-known directors

Film Oct. 10, 2016

Director Tyler Rubenfeld traveled from New York City to Seoul to present his debut feature film in competition at a recent film festival. Noteworthy was that he made the trip to compete in the “No Budget” category -- the 64-minute film’s budget came to just $4,000. “No-budget filmmaking is just a series of burned bridges,” Rubenfeld said after the screening of his psychological drama “Wake Me When I Leave” at the Korea International Expat Film Festival, held in Seoul from Sept. 9-11. The second

Film Sept. 29, 2016

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Director Andrew Ahn came to Korea to spark a conversation. 　His film, “Spa Night,” depicts David, a second-generation Korean-American working with his parents at their Korean restaurant. When the restaurant closes, David surreptitiously works at a Korean spa -- instead of studying to enter university -- to help the family. There he notices for the first time the spa’s role in secretive homosexual hookups, just as he begins considering his own identity.　“I hope th

Film May 19, 2016

God lives in a modest apartment in Brussels, Belgium, with his wife and daughter. He’s a miserable codger with a wife who’s afraid of him and a daughter who hates him. To pass time, he sits at an old computer where he programs laws that dictate how the world works.  God (left) ands his wife and daughter sit at the kitchen table in "The Brand New Testament."Ever notice how whichever line you stand in at the grocery store, another line moves faster? That’s because God loves tormenting you. And the

Film Dec. 23, 2015

BUSAN ― “Convergence” is the kind of movie that reaffirms why fans of genre films go to film festivals. It sits somewhere in the space of an action, mystery, thriller, indie, ghost, horror feature, yet finds an original way to bust its genres open and surprise audiences ― both in twists of the story itself and the conversations it evokes about life, theology and what is truly horrifying. Coming off his overall win at FirstGlance Film Fest Los Angeles, writer and director Drew Hall brought “Conve

Film Oct. 6, 2015

"Black Horse Memories" (BIFF)While international movie stars -- from Britain’s Tilda Swinton to the United States’ Harvey Keitel – are likely to draw much of the attention in Busan in the coming days, one category of movies at the city’s popular film festival is looking to shift the spotlight to new talents from across Asia. As the 20th Busan International Film Festival, which opened Thursday, sees 304 movies from 75 countries played on the big screen, the New Currents section is set to present

Film Oct. 2, 2015

Zombies, ghouls and the horrific of all kinds abound as the biggest genre film festival in Asia stirs into life in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. Branching out from the European genre film festivals on which it is based ― typically focused on horror and the grotesque ― the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival takes a wide view of the term “fantastic” to encompass “all that we cannot experience in the real world,” including sci-fi, suspense and action, according to organizers.In recent year

Film July 21, 2015