Song Il-gon

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Song Il-gon

Born January 1, 1971 (1971-01-01) (age 37)[1]
Seoul, South Korea
Occupation Film director and screenwriter
Years active 1998-present
Korean name
Hangul 송일곤
Hanja 宋一坤
Revised Romanization Song Il-gon

Song Il-gon (송일곤, born January 1, 1971) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter known for his international award-winning early short films, and later feature films such as Spider Forest (2004) and Feathers in the Wind (2005). Long more popular abroad than in South Korea, Song was the first Korean filmmaker to win an award at the Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Contents

[edit] Life and career

Song Il-gon was born in Seoul on January 1, 1971.[3] He studied Fine Arts at the Seoul Institute of the Arts.[2] After graduation he applied to study film in the United States. His visa application was rejected by that country, and Song instead attended the National Academy of Film in Łódź, Poland. He was only the second Korean student to study at this institution which is known for prominent alumni such as Roman Polanski and Krzysztof Kieślowski.[2] Unable to deal with specifically Korean themes or history while in Poland, Song turned to themes influenced by psychology and Western mythology.[2]

Beginning in 1998, Song's short films began attracting international attention. Liver and Potato (1998) took its inspiration from the biblical story of Cain and Abel. The Dream of the Clowns (also 1998) was filmed at a Polish circus. Both of these films were shown at international film festivals, and both were released at short-film specialty theaters in South Korea.[4] Song became the first Korean to win an award at the Cannes Film Festival with his short film Picnic (Sopoong) (1999), which was given the Jury Prize for Best Short Film. This film was also given the Grand Prix at the Melbourne International Film Festival.[2]

Song's first feature film was Flower Island (2001), a story about three women with psychological wounds travelling together to an island which is said to have magical healing powers.[5] The film was successful internationally, winning prizes at the Venice Film Festival and the Fribourg International Film Festival among others. Song had an acting role in director Pak Kyung-hee's debut film, A Smile (Miso, 2004).[6]

Like Flower Island, Spider Forest (2004), Song's second feature film, was not successful in the South Korean domestic market, either with audiences or critics.[2]

Song's next feature film, Feathers in the Wind was originally planned as a 30-minute short as part of an omnibus film. South Korea's major production studio, CJ Entertainment gave Song funds to make the work into a feature for individual release. The resulting film was Song's first domestic success, with some Korean critics acclaiming it as the best romance ever filmed in Korea.[7] Magician(s) (2005) is an experimental digitally-shot film done entirely in one tracking shot.[8]

In February 2007, Song was reported to be working on a film with the working title of Telephone Girl. The film was to deal with Korea during the 1920s and 1930s, when the country was modernizing under Japanese occupation.[9] However in January 2008, Song was reportedly in pre-production for a period horror film set during the Joseon Dynasty entitled Sahwa ("Royal Massacre"). This film was scheduled to begin shooting in March 2008.[10]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Wins

[edit] Nominations

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Infobox data from Song Il-gon (송일곤) (English). hancinema.net. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Brown, James (2005). Don't Forget Him When He's Cool: An Interview with Song Il-gon (English). www.sensesofcinema.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  3. ^ Song Il-gon (송일곤) (English). hancinema.net. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  4. ^ Paquet, Darcy (1999). The Picnic (So-Poong) (English). koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  5. ^ Hartzell, Adam. Flower Island (English). koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  6. ^ Kim, Kyu-hyun. A Smile (English). koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  7. ^ FEATHER IN THE WIND, a.k.a GIT (Korea, 2004); North American Premiere (English). www.subwaycinema.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  8. ^ Kim, Tae-jong (May 2, 2005). Freer Expression Thru Digital Media (English). The Korea Times. Archived from the original on May 5, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  9. ^ Yi, Ch’ang-ho (2007-02-14). SONG Il-gon Tackles Modernization of Korea (English). www.koreanfilm.or.kr. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  10. ^ D’Sa, Nigel (2008-01-09). SONG Il-gon Horror to Shoot this Spring (English). www.koreanfilm.or.kr. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  11. ^ List of awards based on Awards for Il-gon Song (English). IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.

[edit] Bibliography

Persondata
NAME Song, Il-gon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION South Korean film director
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Seoul, South Korea
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH