K-Cineflex, a new 3-part documentary TV series on Korean cinema for international audiences

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K-Cineflex, a new 3-part documentary TV series on Korean cinema for international audiences

Dec 08, 2020

Writerby HWANG Hee-yun
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Arirang TV to air the show from December 10 to 12.

Movie fans from all over the world will soon have the opportunity to get more familiar with Korean films despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Produced by Arirang TV, K-Cineflex is a three-part English-language documentary series on Korean films that will delve into the Korean films that caught the attention of the world in 2020. Across three episodes, the show will explore the question of how K-Cinema, now a genre unto itself, gained worldwide popularity beyond Korea and Asia.

Produced by Arirang TV and sponsored by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC; presided by OH Seok-geun), each episode of K-Cineflex will consist of four segments. The first segment, K-Cinestory, will develop various narratives on topics relative to Korean films, while the second segment K-Film 101 will invite foreign viewers to share their opinions through videocalls. K-Cinepeople will feature mini-documentaries on notable figures in Korea’s film industry, and K-Short Film will introduce in each episode a short film from a director who came to define today’s Korean cinema, along with their own thoughts on the film.

The program, which will run from December 10 to 12 on Arirang TV(10:30 in Korea, 20:30 in North America), will highlight a different film genre in each episode. The first part (50 minutes) will look back on the thriller genre, the second part (30 minutes) will introduce the romance genre, and the third part (30 minutes) will explore the action genre. Of particular note for Korean movie fans from all over the world is the airing of Director BONG Joon-ho’s early short film Baeksaekin (1994) as part of the first episode. Baeksaekin (1994) is a film that prefigured the questions of social class that BONG would later revisit in PARASITE (2019), and its presentation on December 10 will also include BONG Joon-ho’s commentary.

International audiences are taking more interest in Korean films than ever thanks to PARASITE (2019) winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019 and the Academy Award for Best Picture earlier this year, according to KOFIC. Yet, there has been a lack of reliable media or show providing accurate and interesting information on Korean films overseas, a void that K-Cineflex hopes to fill.

Movie fans interested in Korean movies can already watch the video “K-Cinema becomes a genre unto itself” on Arirang TV and KOFIC’s YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNuisadKDu0)

Any copying, republication or redistribution of KOFIC's content is prohibited without prior consent of KOFIC.

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