Toronto International Film Festival Will Feature Three Korean Films

Three Korean films have been selected for this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which will run from September 10 to 20. Best known as one of the leading film fests in North America, TIFF will feature 289 movies from 71 countries for its 40th edition, according to an article published Monday on The Korea Times.

Ryoo Seung Wan's 'Veteran' is included in the Vanguard Section of the festival. The film, which is a big hit in the country after its release on August 5, has recorded 10 million views as of Saturday. It has also dominated box office charts after recording $72 million worth of revenue.

"The latest from Korean maestro Ryoo Seung Wan builds brilliantly on the foundation of his previous action smash 'The Unjust,' taking that film's brooding exploration of an underworld power elite merger and infusing it with brash humor and hugely entertaining set pieces," TIFF Programmer Giovanna Fulvi says.

"'Veteran' is vintage Ryoo. With its distinctive camera technique and goofy gags, 'Veteran' is a work of high entertainment," Fulvi adds.

The second Korean film selected to appear in the film festival is, 'Right Now, Wrong Then.' It is under the direction of Hong Sang Soo and has been released in Locarno on August 13. On the other hand, it's set for release in South Korea on September 24.

Eight of Hong's films will be featured in the North American film fest, and 'Right Now, Wrong Then' will premiere in the Masters Section.

Fulvi describes Hong's latest entry "rarefied and minimalist," which she says will be an "addition to Hong Sang Soo's cinematic catalogue of behavioral anthropology."

"Two variations on a potentially fateful encounter between a filmmaker and a painter, the film is an enriching cinematic experience, similar yet surprisingly different from Hong's previous films," Fulvi says.

Making his debut on Toronto film festival will be Kwon Oh Kwang for the film 'Collective Invention.' Lee Kwang Soo and Park Bo Young stars in the film, which will be included in the Vanguard Section for its world premiere.

"Every year I try to include in my selection of Korean cinema a discovery, a new film from a talented new director," Fulvi says. "In the past, I have put on the program films like 'Sa-kwa' by Kang Yi Kwan or 'Castaway on the Moon' by Lee Hae Jun."

"This year's discovery is 'Collective Invention,' a hilarious social satire about a hapless mutant's meteoric rise to celebrity and subsequent fall from grace. The film examines how popular culture operates by its own capricious logic and is the hugely inventive feature debut from Kwon Oh Kwang, a new talent to watch for in the panorama of South Korean cinema," she adds.

Meanwhile, an Aug 10 article on Huffington Post has stated that the Toronto film festival has already announced 15 red carpet galas and 34 productions for this year's event.