Kim Hyeon-seok (김현석)

KIM was born in 1972 and studied business at Yonsei University. He majored in film production at the Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Multimedia & Film at ChungAng University. He started his film career as a writer when he was a business student in college, writing the screenplay for (1995, directed by KWON Chil-in), and later while in the army, he wrote the screenplay, (1995), which won him the prestigious Grand Bell award for best new scriptwriter. His third feature-length screenplay was (1998, directed by LEE Eun). (2002) was his directorial debut.

[HanCinema's Film Review] "C'est Si Bon"2015/02/21,
The time is the sixties. The place- a hip sixties bar by the name of "C'est Si Bon". Hyeong-joo (played by Kang Ha-neul) and Chang-sik (played by Jo Bok-rae) are two talented young musicians who seem to genuinely despise each other. Enter Geun-tae (played by Jeong Woo), a somewhat less talented man who the other characters hope will even Hyeong-joo and Chang-sik out. It doesn't work. Ultimately these three are only able to form a functional folk band because of Ja-yeong (played by Han Hyo-joo). She doesn't join the band or anything. It's just, you know, Han Hyo-joo. She's pretty hot,...More

C'est Si Bon (2014)2015/02/08, Source, "C'est Si Bon"
Genres: Drama and Romance
Running Time: 123 min.
Directed by: Kim Hyeon-seok
Starring: Kim Yoon-seok, Jeong Woo, Han Hyo-joo, Kim Hee-ae
Synopsis: In the late 1960s, C'est Si Bon is the music bar where every acoustic band's dream lies. There Geun-tae, a naïve country boy, meets the young musical prodigies Hyung-joo and Chang-sik, and forms the band named after it -- the C'est Si Bon Trio. As the three young artists bicker over their music, beautiful socialite Ja-young enters the picture and becomes their muse, and a series of moving love songs come from it. Geun-tae's pure-heartedness wins Ja-young over but when she accepts a once-in-lifetime opportunity for a shot at an acting career, they part ways. After 20 years, the untold story of their love, song, and youth at C'est Si Bon is finally brought to light,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Cyrano Agency"2014/03/15,
Byeong-hoon (played by Eom Tae-woong) has a simple mission in life. Help the lovelorn get dates by staging meet cute romantic comedy sequences, all for the sake of giving those poor lonely souls the courage to speak up to the objects of their amor. All sorts of narrative flourishes are necessary to make these schemes work, and strangely, they all feel totally necessary. Apparently it's easier to convince a guy to challenge an authority figure in a giant crowded room full of people than it is to just get him to say "I Like You" to the woman he likes.
Yes, romance can be a terrifying thing,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "11 AM"2013/12/13,
From the very beginning we see that every character in this movie has very personal reasons to want access to a time machine. Not even selfish reasons, necessarily- the trouble is that they all have an agenda. And even when faced with a clear blueprint for future crises, each and every character naturally assumes that their agenda alone is the one that won't ruin everything.
Let's take head researcher Woo-Seok (played by Jeong Jae-yeong). Here is a man who clearly has a lot of faith in the power of science to save the world, and his views appear to be vindicated when on the first test run, he discovers the underwater research facility to be in shambles after only a cursory hop into the future,...More

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2013.11.29 - 2013.12.012013/12/02,
It's not too often that a Korean sci-fi is able to come out ahead, and although Kim Hyeon-seok's "11 AM" did so with the second lowest first-place total this year, it was still able to topple some big events in the process. "11 AM" claimed 377,165 (21.3%) over 512 screens to outplay last week's number one – Kwak Gyeong-taek's "Friends 2" – as well as the not-so-hot "Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire". Times are tough at the moment at the Korean box office, and so while the world (the U.S. in particular) is burning up over the Susan Collins's second novel adaptation, the hermit kingdom has withdrawn and spread it limited wealth over just a few worthy features,...More

"11 AM" accelerates 2013/12/01, Source,
The movie "11 AM" is a box office hit.
According to the Korean Film Council, "11 AM" gathered up to 440,000 audiences from the 28th of last month to the 1st of this month. It sped to the top of the Box Office from the moment it was released,...More

[HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...2013/11/23, K-Films Coming Soon:
★★★★ "Tumbleweed": A social loner who does prison time for others finds new meaning in his life through a chance encounter.(11/28)
★★★★ "11 AM": A deep-sea laboratory tests its newly developed time machine, but the world of tomorrow is not as welcoming as its first pilots had hoped for. (11/28)
★★★ "Hello Orchestra": A documentary that follows violist Richard Yongjae O'Neill as he overcomes the stigma of having a multicultural background through music. (11/28)
★★★★"Lazy Hitchhikers' Tour de Europe": Could you travel around Europe by simply bartering your way around? These 'surplus people' show you how. (11/28)
★★★ "Beautiful Child": A story about a Korean missionary who charges through the rupture of natives and white people. (11/28),...More

Korean Film Festival DC Marks 8th Year with Film, Video Art, and Director Na Hong-jin2012/03/14, Source,
The Korean Film Festival DC, one of the largest showcases of Korean cinema in the United States, kicks off this week at the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC. The 2012 edition of the festival, running throughout March, April, and into May, is spread over two months and combines 12 films, four video art exhibitions, two lecture events, and four post-film discussions with Korean director Na Hong-jin,...More

Korean Cinema 2011: The View from Here2012/01/14, Source,
US-based author and curator of film at the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington, DC, Tom VICK shares his views on recent trends he has noticed programming their Korean film festival.
How do you introduce new Korean films to an American audience? Since 2004, when I began programming the Korean Film Festival DC, the answer to this question has become more difficult to answer. This is not to say that it's harder to find good films. Quite the opposite. The problem (if it can be called a problem) is that there are so many films to choose from.The explosion of digital production and distribution in the last decade or so has made it easier than ever to make a film, but harder than ever find an audience for it,...More

[HanCinema Korea's Diary] Introduce Yourself to Korean Cinema: 7 Films to Get You Started2011/05/28,
Are you interested in Korean cinema but don't know where to start? The following is a short list of films that I believe would give any film enthusiast a good grounding for what Korean cinema has to offer. They include award-winning films, films that provide insight into Korea's history and culture, as well as a couple of fantastic genre films that Korean cinema tends to favour.,...More

2nd Chungmuro Int'l Film Fest Kicks Off Sept. 3rd2008/08/30, Source, The second edition of the Chungmuro International Film Festival in Seoul (CHIFFS) will bring a mixture of old and new to screens September 3rd, opening fittingly with director HIGUCHI Shinji's 2008 remake of a classic 1958 KUROSAWA Akira film, The Hidden Fortress. The curtain raiser and closing fil,...More

Chungmuro aims to link past and present2008/07/29, Source, When the Chungmuro International Film Festival (CHIFFS) hit central Seoul last year, it was widely regarded as somewhat of a throwback festival. The event featured films dripping with nostalgia from when Chungmuro was the heart of the Korean film industry.

Korean Films Premiering at 9th JIFF2008/04/16, Source, Ten Korean features will have their World Premiere at the Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) this spring. Now in it's 9th edition the festival will run May 1st – 9th in the attractive and historical city of Jeonju, in North Jeolla province.

Kim Hyeon-seok | Community

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Kim Hyeon-seok (김현석)

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