Family Ties with Director Q&A at the KCC

Last year the Thames Festival provided the opportunity for a couple of collateral events in the form of concerts by Winterplay and Baramgot. This year, director Kim Tae-yong is over for the screening of the restored silent film Crossroads of Youth, and will stay to answer questions after the KCC’s screening on Monday of his 2006 film Family Ties. As usual, booking is required via the KCC website:

Special KCCUK Screening
Family Ties
plus Q&A with Dir. Kim Tae-yong
Monday 12th Sep 2011, 7pm @ KCC Multi-purpose Hall

Synopsis

Mi-ra, who runs a small snack food restaurant, has a trouble-maker brother, Hyung-chul. After being discharged from the military, he goes missing. After five years Hyung-chul suddenly comes back home accompanied by a middle-aged woman, Mu-sin. He gives a bunch of flowers to Mi-ra and introduces Mu-sin as his wife, even though they have not had a wedding ceremony. Mu-sin looks at least 20 years older than Hyung-chul. From that moment, an eccentric family is born.

The film has won numerous awards including Best Director at Pusan and Blue Dragon as well as Best Picture at Pusan, AKOFIC, Thessaloniki and Daejong film festivals.

Kim Tae-yong

A relatively young filmmaker, Kim Tae-yong burst onto the scene with what is deemed one of the ‘most artistic’ horror films, Memento Mori, part of the Whispering Corridors franchise. Not pigeon-holing himself, the director built a career creating beautifully shot and emotionally impactful dramas such as On the Road, Two and Family Ties. His newest feature, Late Autumn, found itself invited to the 2011 Berlinale Int’l Film Festival. A remake of a remake, the film resoundingly contemporaries the story of two unlikely lovers. The film also continues an aspect the director has foster over the years, of creating appealing co-productions that have found critical success in his native land and aboard.

Kim Tae-yong is not just an accomplished filmmaker but he also oversees the restoration process for many of Korea’s earliest films. Partnered with KOFA (The Korean Film Archive), the director has breathed new life into the country’s oldest, surviving film, Crossroads of Youth, which plays Saturday 9th September, at The Mayor of London’s Thames Festival, OXO Tower.