Almost totally unseen in the US, Jeon Soo-Il is one of Korea’s most important independent directors and he, and a retrospective of his films, are coming to NYU this weekend. None of us have seen the films, although we’ve all heard of them, so we’ve pulled the info from the official press release. Here it is:

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Jeon’s films have been awarded and featured internationally in film festivals, including the Cannes International Film Festival (WIND ECHOING IN MY BEING, 1997), Venice International Film Festival (WITH A GIRL OF BLACK SOIL, 2007) and Pusan International Film Festival (HIMALAYA, 2008). His energetic creativity never stops while teaching film production in Kyungsung University and currently is in production for his 8th film.  New York University will showcase Jeon’s three films; HIMALAYA WHERE THE WIND DWELLS (2008), WITH A GIRL OF BLACK SOIL (2007), THE BIRD WHO STOPS IN THE AIR (1999).

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Screening Schedule

Director Jeon Soo-il will be present at the screenings.

Friday, April 23, 6:00pm

WITH A GIRL OF BLACK SOIL (2007, 89 min)

Cantor Film Center, 36 E. 8th Street

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Saturday, April 24, 2:00pm

THE BIRD WHO STOPS IN THE AIR (1999, 106 min)

Michelson Theater, 721 Broadway, 6th Floor

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Sunday, April 25, 2:00pm

HIMALAYA: THE PLACE WIND DWELLS (2008, 95 min)

Michelson Theater, 721 Broadway, 6th Floor

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WITH A GIRL OF BLACK SOIL (2007, 89min)
In a small mining village in the Kangwon Province, a 9-year-old girl Young-lim lives a financially limited but cozy life with her miner father, and her mentally challenged brother. But their happiness is interrupted as her father loses his job after a mining incident.  Jeon’s most acclaimed film – it won awards at the Venice, Pusan, Deauville and Barcelona film festivals, among others – is a “quiet wonder” (Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter) that effectively plunges the viewer into its rugged, forlorn setting and the interior world of its young heroine.

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THE BIRD WHO STOPS IN AIR (1999, 106 min)

Kim teaches at a provincial film school and is no favourite among the students. Different from other professors who help them find contacts and start their film careers, Kim is too focused on film itself and on making his own film, a desire which begins to merge with his longing to fly. Having kept the memories of birds from his childhood, he intends to make a film based on the images of birds that appear in his dreams. He is slowly working on his own screenplay and doesn’t notice that his professional and personal lives are falling apart. Kim’s girlfriend, Young-hie, struggles with her fears about the future and tries to interest her lover in their relationship – to no avail. Yet he agrees to accompany Young-hie on a trip to her hometown, though he is plainly becoming ever more estranged from the human world.

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HIMALAYA: THE PLACE WIND DWELLS (2008, 95min)

The film begins with the protagonist Choi (Choi Min-Sik, OLDBOY), who has just finished his divorce procedures. When he visits his brother’s factory, he receives a request to deliver one of the Nepali workers’ ashes to his homeland and family. After suffering from nasal haemorrhage and headache due to mountain sickness, he arrives in Sham’s hometown in the Himalayas to find Sham’s ill mother and his three sisters living in a ragged house.  Unable to deliver the news, Choi stays in the Himalayas, which forces him to choose between the village life and modernity.

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