Source: The Korean Society

Director Bong Joon-ho at work on THE HOST. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. © 2006 Chungeorahm Film

The following text comes from publicity materials prepared by the Korean Society. The Films of Bong Joon-Ho Monday & Tuesday, February 26 & 27! Bong in person Tuesday, February 27 at 8:30pm with THE HOST! Acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho took the 2006 Cannes Film Festival by storm with his smart, terrifying new monster movie THE HOST (Gwoemul). In anticipation of the film`s American release on March 9, the Korean Society and the IFC Center present a mini-fest of the director’s signature cinema -- black comedies, gritty crime dramas and horror thrillers with a comic book feel. The special line-up of box-office mega-hits will include showings of BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (Flandersui Gae, 2000) and MEMORIES OF MURDER (Salinui Chueok, 2003), and shorts INCOHERENCE (1994) and SINK AND RISE (2004)-- and Bong himself in person for the closing screening of THE HOST. All films at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave (Ave of the Americas), New York, NY 10014. Tickets can be purchased in-person at the box office or online. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Monday, February 26 at 7:00pm BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE 2000, 35mm, color, Mirovision, 106 min. Director: Bong Joon-Ho Cast: Bae Doo-Na, Lee Sung-Jae

Bong made his feature film directorial debut with BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE. © 2000 Cinema Service

A professor tries to take revenge on the dog who`s been disturbing his sleep. American Beauty hopped up on laughing gas, BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE`s plot is choreographed as intricately as a triple-time minuet. Its director says it`s about corruption and innocence (and it is), but the story plays as a wild comedy focusing on two of the greatest characters to appear onscreen in decades: Lee Sung-Jae, a part-time lecturer who learns he`ll do anything to achieve a coveted position as a professor and Bae Doo-Na, a female member of an apartment building`s custodial staff who yearns to do something brave. A shaggy-dog story about the mysteries of pregnancy, the length of toilet paper, lost dogs, and good stew, this movie is a bedtime story for urban sophisticates, scored to a be-bop soundtrack. The director`s debut feature, and one of the few independent Korean films, it gleefully mixes razor-sharp acting, goofy physicality, black comedy, and genuine warmth. It`s the kind of movie that audiences live for, and that gives marketing departments nightmares. "An eloquent social comedy... Beautifully directed, unsentimental and darkly funny." - Time Out (London) Awards: Best Editing, Slamdance Film Festival 2001 International Film Critics Federation Award of Young Asian FIPRESCI Award for young Asian filmmakers, 25th Hong Kong International Film Festival Special award presented to composer Cho Sung-Woo for his soundtrack for BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE, Buenos Aires International Film Festival (Argentina) 2001. Best Newcomer Award to Producer Cho Min-hwan for BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE, Munich Film Fest (Germany) 2001 Monday, February 26 at 9:15pm MEMORIES OF MURDER 2003, 35mm, color, CJ Entertainment & Palm Pictures, 127 min. Director: Bong Joon-Ho, Cast: Song Kang-Ho, Kim Sang-Kyung, Park Hae-Il

MEMORIES OF MURDER was the top film at the Korean box office and won Best Movie, Best Director and Best Actor in 2003. © 2003 CJ Entertainment

Two overwhelmed cops search for South Korea`s first serial killer. South Korea was rocked to its foundations when struck by its first serial killer, who raped and murdered ten women in a small village in Kyonggi Province between 1986 and 1991. Director Bong Joon-Ho has taken the investigation and combined it with best-of-career performances from Song Kang-Ho (JSA, SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE) and Kim Sang-Kyung (TURNING GATE), to make Korea`s most highly-acclaimed film of 2003, a master work that is itself like a memory of a dream: heartbreaking, mysterious, stunningly beautiful, and unspeakably sad. A comedy, of sorts, of procedural errors that would be hilarious were it not so tragic, the film is a haunting look at a nation finding itself inevitably slipping back to an earlier, uglier era when an authoritarian government could freely violate the rights of private citizens in the name of the law. "A police procedural like no other. Epic... an altogether remarkable piece of work." - Michael Atkinson, Village Voice Awards: Best Films, Grand Bell Awards Best Actor (Song Kang-Ho), Grand Bell Awards Best Director (Bong Joon-Ho), Grand Bell Awards Silver Seashell, San Sebastian International Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize, San Sebastian International Film Festival Best New Director (Bong Joon-Ho), San Sebastian International Film Festival 2003 Asian Film Award, Tokyo International Film Festival Grand Prix, Cognac Festival Du Film Policier Premiere Award, Cognac Festival du Film Policier Prix Mediatheques, Cognac Festival du Film Policier Special Prize of the Police, Cognac Festival du Film Policier Best Screenplay Award, Audience Award, Torino Film Festival (Italy) Tuesday, February 27 at 6:00pm TWENTIDENTITY featuring Bong`s SINK AND RISE (2004), plus INCOHERENCE (1994) Bong contributed SINK AND RISE to this omnibus film made for the 20th anniversary of the Korean Academy of Film Arts; screening with the director`s early short black comedy. SINK AND RISE (from TWENTIDENTITY) 2004, Digi-beta, color, 95 min.Director: Bong Joon-Ho Taken from TWENTIDENTITY, a 20-part omnibus film made by alumni of the Korean Academy of Film Arts on the occasion of the school`s 20th anniversary, Bong`s contribution is SINK AND RISE, a whimsical work set alongside the Han River that can be seen as a warm up for the director`s third feature THE HOST. INCOHERENCE, 1994, Digi-Beta, color, 30 min. Director: Bong Joon-Ho A short black comedy that criticizes society with his Bong Joon-Ho`s unique sense of humor, Incoherence was invited to international film festivals in San Diego and Hong Kong, giving Bong his first taste of artistic recognition. Tuesday, February 27 at 8:30pm Director Bong Joon-Ho in person! THE HOST 2006, 35mm, color, Showbox & Magnolia Pictures, 119 min. Director: Bong Joon-Ho, Cast: Song Kang- Ho, Park Hae-Il, Bae Doo-Na, Byeon Hie-Bong, Ko Ah-Sung

Korean theatrical poster for THE HOST. © 2006 Chungeorahm Film

Toxins from a U.S military base flow into Korea`s Han River, causing the birth of a mutant creature which terrorizes Seoul. When it grabs a little girl, her dysfunctional family must band together to save her. THE HOST is like a mutant hybrid spawned from the improbable union of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and GODZILLA, for the film is a family comedy and political satire in which an unnaturally evolved tadpole just happens to loom (very) large. Bong expertly balances absurd humor against tense thrills, and domestic drama against mass mayhem, reasserting South Korea`s place at the pinnacle of genre-busting cinema - and most of all he surprises at every turn in a film where, despite a realistic social milieu, almost anything seems possible. "Terrific... a seriously scary freakout. The best film I`ve seen at this year`s Cannes Film Festival." - Manohla Dargis, The New York Times Awards: Best Director, 5th Korea Film Festival Best Film, 5th Korea Film Festival Best Sound, 5th Korea Film Festival Best CG, 5th Korea Film Festival Cannes Film Festival New York Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival DHL Audience Choice Award for Best Feature, Hawaii International Film Festival Pusan International Film Festival