APM - Asian Project Market

 

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Director’s Profile

Zhang Lu, a third-generation Korean-Chinese film-maker, debuted with his first feature length film Tang Poetry (2003), and has since directed seven more films; developing along the way into one of the most prominent film-makers in Asia. His films – Grain in Ear (2005), depicting the life and catastrophes of a Chinese-Korean woman, Desert Dream (2007), exploring the journey of a North Korean defector and her son in Mongolia, and Dooman River (2009), portraying the friendship between a defected North Korean boy and a Chinese-Korean boy – raise complex questions on nationality, ethnicity, and borders; tracing back through modern Korean history and encompassing colonialism, migration, and national divisions.

Synopsis

Choi Hyeon, a professor for the department of Northeast Asian international relations at Beijing University, lives in Beijing with his Chinese wife. One day, he learns of the sudden death of his friend, Chang-hui, and hurries to Daegu, South Korea. At Chang-hui’s funeral, Choi Hyeon meets his old friend, Chun-won, and is reminded of their trip to the historic city of Gyeongju seven years ago. Preoccupied by a strange feeling, Choi Hyeon asks Chun-won if he remembers an obscene ‘Chunhwa’ painting which they saw in a teahouse in Gyeongju, but Chun-won cannot recall anything of their trip. Chun-won asks Choi Hyeon to drink more and talk about their lives, but Choi Hyeon turns him down and heads to Gyeongju by himself. Arriving in Gyeongju, Choi Hyeon calls an ex-girlfriend in Seoul, Yeo-jeong, and arranges to meet her in Gyeongju. Choi Hyeon searches his blurred memories and recalls the teahouse where he first saw the obscene painting. Full of expectation, he searches the teahouse only to find that everything is exactly as it was seven years ago, but that the obscene painting is missing. He meets an attractive lady, Gong Yun-hui, the owner of the teahouse, asks her where the painting is now and is told that she covered it with wallpaper because of people’s offensive jokes. At that time, Yeo-jeong arrives in Gyeongju and Choi Hyeon hurries from the teahouse. Choi Hyeon is pleased to see Yeo-jeong, but she treats him coldly, appears uneasy, and heads back to Seoul in a hurry. Choi Hyeon revisits the teahouse and Yun-hui feels wary, but at the same time curious about him. Now begins a new story between them.

Achievements

*APM 2013 Funding21 Award
2014 Busan International Film Festival
2014 Locarno Film Festival ? In International Competition Section
2014 Nantes Three Continents Festival
2014 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
2014 Haifa International Film Festival
2014 Mar del Plata International Film Festival
2014 Released in Korea
2015 Baeksang Arts Awards
2015 Munich International Film Festival
2015 Beijing International Film Festival

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