In celebration of the 70 years of Philippine-Korean friendship, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines (KCC), the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) and SM present the Korean Film Festival in seven cities around the Philippines.
This year’s festival with the theme, “Sailing Beyond Together,” kicked off in Manila on November 6 at the Samsung Hall in SM Aura Premier. No less than Jeon Go-woon, director of the festival’s opening film Microhabitat, graced the opening night with a Special Director’s Talk.
Jeon Go-woon’s “Microhabitat” is an award-winning comedy-drama film which follows the story of Miso, a housekeeper. When the government doubles the price of her favorite things — cigarettes and whiskey, she decides to leave her house. Before doing so, she makes a list of friends, who may or may not be willing to make a space or two for her.
The critically-acclaimed and talked-about “Parasite” (2019) by Boon Joon-Ho was also part of the lineup. The film, which won the prestigious Palm D’Or at the Cannes film festival, is about the poor and unemployed Ki-Taek who lives with his family in a damp, insect-infested semi-basement apartment at the low income area in Seoul. His son, Ki-Woo, is offered a tutoring job while he’s abroad where he enters the life of the wealthy Park family, with his own family lurking in the background.
“Miss Granny” by Hwang Dong-hyeuk, “Little Forest” by Yim Soon-rye, “House of Humming Bird” by Kim Bora, “House of Us” by Yoon Ga-Eun and “Architecture 101,” by Lee Yong-Joo were also shown.
The seven films screened simultaneously in seven SM Malls: SM City Fairview, SM City Cebu, SM City Iloilo, SM City Davao, SM City Olongapo Central, SM City Clark and SM City Dasmariñas.