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April 25, 2024 – A trio of stellar actors give voice to the featured members of the Dickens family as Academy Award winner Kenneth Branagh portrays Charles Dickens, Oscar nominee Uma Thurman plays Catherine Dickens and Golden Globe nominee Roman Griffin Davis gives life to Walter Dickens in Mofac Animation’s upcoming The King of Kings, an animated family film inspired by a little-known short story by Charles Dickens depicting the life and times of Jesus Christ.

Renowned for his big screen adaptations of William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie tales, Branagh changes gears to portray one of the greatest authors of the ages for The King of Kings. As Charles Dickens, Branagh portrays a man conflicted between his burgeoning career and his role as father to the Dickens clan and, in particular, his youngest son Walter (Davis). It’s his wife, Catherine Dickens, brought to animated life by Thurman with an even balance...

Mofac Animation Inc., South Korea’s most decorated visual effects studio, proudly announces its first-ever full-length animated movie: The King of Kings, an animated family film inspired by a little-known short story by Charles Dickens depicting the life and times of Jesus Christ.

The faith-based movie is in its final stages of production at Mofac Animation, as well as in performance recordings from the United Kingdom to the Hawaiian Islands – and numerous locations in between. The ever-growing, A-list cast will be announced at a future date. Mofac Animation is currently seeking potential distributors.

In the film, Charles Dickens finds trouble balancing his writing and performing with the parenting of his children – particularly his youngest son, Walter. Charles discovers the perfect bonding element via the sharing of his short story The Life of Our Lord – the reading of which would become an annual tradition in the Dickens’ family Christmas celebration. Master...

Disney’s Korean fantasy drama Moving was the big winner Sunday at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asia Contents Awards, which honors excellence in content creation for TV and streaming services across the region.

Moving, which has become Disney+ and Hulu’s most-watched Korean series both in Asia and globally, took home the first-place best creative award, best writer (for webtoon artist turned screenwriter Kang Full), best lead actor (series star Ryu Seung-ryong), best newcomer actor (co-star Lee Jung-ha), best newcomer actress (Go Yoon Jung) and best visual effects. Moving tells the story of a group of South Korean spies working to protect their super-powered children from harm and exploitation at the hands of malicious government agencies. The series has been praised for its captivating blend of genres and innovative take on the superhero story.

The Busan festival, considered the most influential film event in Asia, created the Asia...

A terminally ill prisoner and a despondent hospital worker steal a hearse stuffed with mob money in “Heaven: To the Land of Happiness.” This combination of odd-couple road movie and crime comedy moves along nicely for about half the running time but loses momentum when sentimentality and drawn-out male bonding take precedence over the film’s more playful components. Well served by the casting of A-list performers Choi Min-sik (“Old Boy”) and Park Hae-il (“The Host”) as the unlikely allies, “Heaven” should be warmly welcomed by local audiences but the latest offering from distinguished South Korean filmmaker Im Sang-soo is unlikely to enjoy the same international exposure as his best-known works, such as “The Housemaid.”

Originally selected for Cannes 2020 but unable to screen owing to the pandemic, Im’s film instead received its world premiere as the opening-night attraction at Busan 2021. A very different proposition from his emotionally spiky and...

“Heaven: To The Land Of Happiness,” directed by leading South Korean filmmaker Im Sang-soo, has been set at the opening night title of next month’s Busan International Film Festival

The film was previously selected by the Cannes festival for the 2020 edition that was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The screening on native soil will therefore represent its theatrical premiere.

Structured as a road movie, “Heaven: To The Land Of Happiness” is the story of two men, one an escaped prisoner, who accidentally get their hands on a large amount of money and embark on a journey, dreaming of a comfortable ending to their lives.

Festival organizers described the film as “festive and pastoral” and said that “the harmony created from Im Sang-soo’s outstanding directorial power and excellent acting by Choi Min-sik and Park Hae-il ultimately turns the film into an inquiry about happiness that is warm and beautiful like no other.

Yuh-Jung Youn has made Oscars history as the first Korean performer to win an Academy Award in one of the four acting categories. Youn took home the Best Supporting Actress prize for her performance in Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari.” Young was nominated against Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Movie Film”), Olivia Colman (“The Father”), Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”), and Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”). Prior to the Oscars, Youn emerged as the category’s frontrunner after winning Best Supporting Actress prizes at the BAFTA Film Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Youn’s Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actress came from one of six Oscar nominations “Minari” received at the 93rd Academy Awards. The film also picked up nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Steven Yeun, Best Original Score, and Best Original Screenplay. Youn’s victory gives distributor A24 yet another acting Academy Award after the likes...

Legendary Korean star Yuh-Jung Youn will receive the 2021 Spotlight Award, Actress for her role in the critically-hailed “Minari” at the Palm Springs International Film Awards.

“In her first-ever American feature film, ‘Minari,’ Yuh-Jung Youn wonderfully portrays a feisty and foul-mouthed grandmother whose Korean American family has suddenly moved from California to a hardscrabble farm in Arkansas. Hers is a performance that crosses culture and language, one that fully reveals the skills of her long, brilliant career,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “It is our honor to present the Spotlight Award, Actress to Yuh-Jung Youn.”

Youn joins this year’s previously announced honorees Riz Ahmed, Viola Davis, Andra Day (Breakthrough Performance Award), Anthony Hopkins (Career Achievement Award), Daniel Kaluuya, Carey Mulligan, Leslie Odom, Jr., Gary Oldman (Chairman’s Award), Chloé Zhao (Director of the Year Award) and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Vanguard Award).

The festival and film awards...

Donna Smith’s 2W Network in the US will co-produce the adaptation with Korea’s Yulmae Entertainment.

Korean director Im Sang-soo (The Housemaid) is set to make his Hollywood feature debut with a film adaptation of art world crime novel Soho Sins by Richard Vine.

Donna Smith’s 2W Network in the US is producing the US-Korea co-production with newcomer Yulmae Entertainment in Korea.

Im’s latest feature, Heaven: To The Land Of Happiness, was selected for the Cannes 2020 ‘The Faithful’ category and is waiting for an appropriate time for release in the pandemic. He made previous outings to Cannes...

The Taste of Money Trailer, Do-nui mat Trailer. Sang-soo Im‘s The Taste of Money / Do-nui mat (2012) movie trailer stars Yun-shik Baek, Hyo-jin Kim, Kang-woo Kim, Ju-wan On, and Maui Taylor. The Taste of Money‘s plot synopsis: “Young-jak , who is a private secretary of madam Paik, the center power of Korean conglomerate, witnesses immoral private issues of her [...]

Continue reading: The Taste Of Money / Do-nui Mat (2012) Movie Trailer: Sang-soo Im...