Opening ceremony, held at a new cultural complex in Seoul, saw screening of the country's oldest pic, from the 1934 silent era, "Turning Point of the Youngsters." The screening was accompanied by live chamber music and perf by helmer Kim Tae-yong ("Family Ties").

The KOFA film festival held to celebrate the opening, is being held in the new 2-screen cinematheque. Program includes screenings of rare examples of East Asian films as well as recently restored pictures around the world, such as Charles Burnett's "Killer of Sheep" and Joseph Losey's "Eva". Preservationist Ross Lipman at UCLA Film & Television Archive is also skedded to give a special lecture on the restoration of "Killer of Sheep."

Fest runs through May 25, and will present Korea's oldest feature-length animation "A Story of Hong Gil-dong"(1967) as its closing film. Pic had been thought lost, but was discovered in Japan this year as a 16mm color film. KOFA restored and enlarged the Robin Hood-like traditional Korean hero animation into 35mm.

Comments (0)