Once a firebrand within the world of South Korean cinema, Kim Ki-duk appears to prefer working out of the spotlight these days. His recent doc Arirang had very little advance notice before arriving in Cannes and the same is true of his new narrative feature Amen, freshly announced to premiere in San Sebastian.
Kim is a polarizing filmmaker, to be sure, not just from audience to audience but often from film to film. But for every picture that doesn't seem to work or just generally finds some way to infuriate an audience he counters with one that is flat out brilliant and this sounds as though he is moving in vintage Kim territory. Expect more details as we're able to dig them up.AMEN, the new work from the South Korean moviemaker Kim Ki-duk, will have its world premiere in San Sebastian Film Festival. The film, integrally shot in Europe, narrates the mysterious voyage of a young Korean girl and her encounters with a man on her trail. Kim Ki-duk (Bonghwa, 1960) is one of the South Korean directors to enjoy greatest international prestige, particularly since his film Seom (The Isle, 2000) competed at the Venice Festival. Bi-mong (Dream, 2008) was selected for the Official Selection of San Sebastian Festival's 56th edition, and Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring, 2003) bagged the Audience Award when it was presented in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section at the Festival's 51st edition. He landed the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Festival for Samaria (Samaritan Girl, 2004), and, at the last Cannes Festival, won the "Un Certain Regard" Award for Arirang (2011). Other important movies on his filmography are Suchwiin bulmyeong (Address Unknown, 2001), Nabbeun namja (Bad Guy, 2002), Hae anseon (The Coastguard, 2002) and Bin-jip (3-Iron, 2004).