Welcome To Dongmakgol wins Audience Award at Udine

2006, May 12

PARK Gwang-hyun’s debut feature Welcome to Dongmakgol, which sold more than 8 million tickets in its Korean release last August, was voted the most popular film at the 8th Udine Far East Film Festival (FEFF) held in northeastern Italy.

The movie, which screened as the festival’s closing film with PARK in attendance, placed first in audience balloting among more than 50 recent features from Asia. The Udine festival, which is devoted to popular Asian cinema of the past and present, ranks as Europe’s largest and best-known showcase of Asian cinema.

The FEFF screened a total of 14 Korean films, including 13 features that have been released in the past year and HAN Hyeong-mo’s Double Curve of Youth (1956), which screened as part of a retrospective on Asian musical films.

Other Korean films to place in the top ten in audience balloting include PARK Jin-pyo’s You Are My Sunshine at #6 and recent comedy See You After School at #10. Other high-ranking films were Japanese features Always and Nana at #2 and #3, and Chinese titles Loach is Fish Too and You and Me at #4 and #5.

More information can be found at the festival’s website at http://www.fareastfilm.com

Darcy Paquet (KOFIC)

Source: http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/news/news_view.asp?kor_news_num=392&page=1&p_part=1&p_item=&tmp_cnt=392