ABOUT THE TOUR:

Squid Game, Parasite, and now My Name. Chances are excellent that know about the first two of these, and by the time of the Reel to Real conference rolls around you will probably have heard of the latest hit as well. Korean cinema, on both the large and small screen, has been front and centre on the global stage for the last while.

It’s quite possible that you’ve run into other English-language films by Korean directors and production companies (Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer and Park Chan-wook’s Stoker immediately come to mind). Or perhaps you encountered Korean cinema via one of the many remakes: Spike Lee’s version of Old Boy or the American version of Kim Jee-woon’s absolutely awesome-sauce A Tale of Two Sisters (which gets a different title: The Uninvited).

On the other hand, you might not know any of the above and are just beginning your journey into the world of Korean cinema. If that’s the case — don’t worry!

Whether you’re a newbie to Korean cinema or not, you’re cordially invited to join your host, Michael Free, who will take you on an interactive tour of the last 60 years of Korean cinema. Going decade by decade, and letting attendees ask questions along the way — which very well might take us off course, but in a hopefully delightful and informative manner!) — Michael will show you what Korean cinema has to offer beyond these recent hits. From Kim Ki-young’s The Housemaid (1960) to Park Kim Do-young’s rendering of Choi Nam-joo’s novel Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 (2019), this quick romp through Korean cinema’s history will give those interested places to look for Korean films and suggestions for what to watch according to their tastes and interests.

ABOUT YOUR HOST:

Michael has been teaching English in Korea for over 15 years now, with an extremely wide range of students (public and private, academic and casual, as well teacher training). The courses he has taught are, for the most part, the usual: conversation English, speaking, academic writing and so forth. In addition to those, he has developed content-based courses in film: general film appreciation, the horror film, as well as courses dedicated to the vampire and zombie genres. Living in Korea and teaching mainly Korean students, a natural part of the growth of these courses (and his own knowledge of Korean language and culture) was the not-quite-casual study of Korean films. Recently, this study has become more intensive with his most recent course assignment: teaching international students about Korean language and culture via film and TV dramas.

Babel On (2015) The Film and the Making Of It, OR Working Within Your Means To Make the Best Film Possible With What You Have: As a lifelong fan of movies, I would often watch interviews with filmmakers, and would come across a number of them lamenting about how a lack of funding or resources prevented them from fulfilling their visions on their projects. For years, I was sympathetic to these struggling artists, but in the past several years, every time I hear one of these laments, I wonder why they went ahead and made a film when they didn't have the proper resources to do so.

The fact of the matter is film-making is hard. It can be mentally, physically, and financially draining. So, if you're going to push yourself to make something, why not make the best thing possible with what you already have instead of compromising, then complaining about it later? This is what I've done with the three short films I've written, produced, and directed.

For this presentation, I will focus on my second short film, "Babel On", a self-financed science-fiction short that I wrote, cast, filmed, and completed in 2 months with minimal cast and crew, to explain how I was able to stretch my limited resources to make something I wanted to, and most importantly, could afford to make.

Grab your popcorn and join us as we watch all the works submitted to our Filmmaking Festival.

A newcomer to the Onion Society brings a mysterious onion to the annual meeting. The president, secretary, and treasurer attempt to figure out what it is and what they should do with it. Four English teachers gathered to make this Korean-language film with English subtitles. MYSTERY EASTER EGG

Watch all the Reel to Real 2021 Films, Student and Non Student Films! In this room the films will be playing in succession in an infinite loop.

This session will be a live synchronous watch party and discussion featuring some of the students films created by students from Nagoya City University. The teacher will introduce the course and process of planning and creating these films, and give some behind the scenes details about how they were made. The audience is encouraged to participate in the discussion, by asking questions and sharing your opinions and reviews of the films!

A surreal fantasy with call backs to iconic Hollywood scenes representing embattled educators' journeys through psychological and emotional challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic. MYSTERY EASTER EGG

Watch all the Reel to Real 2021 Films, Student and Non Student Films! In this room the films will be playing in succession in an infinite loop.

The Seoul Trail: 157km of hiking through mountains, rivers and forests all around the entire city of Seoul! Learn more about this not-so-hidden treasure of Korea. One Canadian’s experience and impressions on walking the trail. MYSTERY EASTER EGG