The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) has announced that its second P&A Fund for Korean Films Abroad will be awarded to Stichting Nederlands Filmmuseum and Hong Kong's Golden Scene to distribute five films in total, including Secret Sunshine and The Chaser.

A committee of five jury members selected Stichting Nederlands Filmmuseum from the Netherlands to receive $18,570 (12,000 euros) for former Cannes competitor Secret Sunshine, to be released on Sept 11 this year.

Stichting previously released films such as Tsai Ming-liang's I Don't Want To Sleep Alone, Hou Hsiao Hsien's Three Times, and Bernardo Bertolucci's Novecento, Parts 1 and 2.

The committee also selected Hong Kong distributor Golden Scene to receive support to distribute four titles: $12,000 for Na Hong-jin's The Chaser, tentatively scheduled to open Sept 4 in five different cinema venues; $8,000 for Kim Ki-duk's Dream, to be released on Dec 11; $7,000 for Chung Yoon-chul's A Man Who Was Superman, to be released Nov 27; and $8,000 for Hur Jin-ho's Happiness, to be released Nov 13.

Golden Scene previously released several Korean films in Hong Kong including 200 Pounds Beauty, which took $498,100 (HK$3.8m) at the box office,The Host ($253,500), and The Art of Seduction ($320,000).

KOFIC has allocated $420,000 for its P&A Fund for Korean Films Abroad to be awarded in four installments each year to support the theatrical releases of Korean films by foreign distributors.

The next rounds of the fund will be announced Sept 30 and Nov 30, respectively. (For more information on the program see http://pna.kofic.or.kr.)

Topics