LEE Kwang-kuk’s A Matter of Interpretation and PARK Jung-bum’s Alive have been invited to the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Bright Future Section. The 44th edition of the film festival will be held from January 21st until February 1st next year. Both will feature in the Bright Future section, focusing on new filmmakers with first or second features, especially those with a young and adventurous spirit.

 

The story of A Matter of Interpretation starts when a performer who realized that no one came to watch her play dashes out of the theater and bumps into a detective who she ends up talking to about her previous night’s dreams. The film has been receiving positive reviews as it intertwines dreams and reality in an interesting manner. This film is director LEE’s second feature film and it won this year’s CGV Moviecollage Award at the Busan International Film Festival’s and the Seoul Independent Film Festival’s Best Film Award. This will be his second visit following his participation at Rotterdam with his 2011 feature Romance Joe.

 

PARK Jung-bum’s Alive takes place in a mountain village, where a laborer named Jung-cheol takes care of his ill sister and young niece. PARK received domestic and international recognition through his debut feature Journals of Musan in 2010, about a North Korean refugee. He received the Hivos Tiger Award and FIPRESCI award at Rotterdam in 2010 with the film.

 

Announced earlier this month, Rotterdam’s Signals section will feature Made in China, a KIM Ki-duk produced drama which debuted at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October.

 

Directed by KIM Dong-hoo, Made in China features young star PARK Ki-woong as a Chinese eel farmer who goes to Korea illegally in a bid to prove that his eels are safe for consumption. A Korean inspector reveals that his livestock is indeed contaminated, but taking pity on him, she finds him a job.

 

Further sections of Rotterdam’s full 44th lineup will be revealed in the coming days.