[HanCinema Korea's Diary] Incoming! Korean Blogathon 2012 almost here...

Published on 2012/02/25

Last year "New Korean Cinema" and "cineAWESOME!" took a leaf out of "WildGrounds"' Japanese Blogathon and kicked off the first Korean Blogathon. Their efforts paid off as the "2011 Korean Blogathon" generated one hundred and fifty posts from the fifty blogs that got involved and shared their thoughts on Korea's film industry. This year, the popular metablog is back and is hoping to build on the success and support of last year's stellar turnout.

The cinematic senses of cinephiles from around the world have been enchanted as momentum gathers for the distinct and engrossing dreamscape that is Korean cinema. International successes like Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy" and Lee Chang-dong's "Poetry" have helped to put modern Korean cinema in the spotlight, as well as pave the way for interest and support of other films coming out of Korea. This relatively recent enthusiasm has painted a cinematic crest to what is generally called the "Korean Wave", as Korean culture and its stories make their way to silver screens around the world.

Last year's Korean Blogathon showcased a range of articles and reviews from Korean film enthusiasts, bloggers, and writers who shared their thoughts, feelings, criticism, and love for the industry and all it has to offer. This is the heart of the experience here, as the Korean Blogathon creates a social space to share content and discuss the film industry so many of us are entranced with.

Below is the Blogathon's press release for the event:

Following last years successful Korean Blogathon (thanks to everyone who joined us!) New Korean Cinema and cineAWESOME! will be hosting the event again this year from 5th to the 11th March.

What's the Korean Blogathon?

It's a way to try to encourage as many people – including YOU! – to share and discover opinions and ideas about Korean cinema. It's open to anyone – wherever you are around the world and whichever language you speak.

For one week we try to encourage as many people as possible to get involved writing about Korean cinema. Anything you want. Over the course of the seven days this kicks up some really interesting posts – and, most importantly, people are able to read what you've written and discover films and ideas that they've never come across before, maybe learn a little about Korean film history, or maybe even discover websites and blogs they were previously unaware of.

Ideas for blog posts might include reviews, top tens, opinions on favorite directors / actors / genres, whatever you want – it just needs to be related to Korean cinema in some way. Last year we had fifty blogs participate, generating one hundred and fifty posts!

Check out the links for last years event here. This year the event will be hosted by cineAWESOME! and mirrored at New Korean Cinema.

All you need to do to join us is to write a post – or as many posts as you want over the seven days – on your blog or website during the week of 5th to the 11th of March then send an e-mail to blogathon@cineawesome.com with your link to and we'll post a link to you from the site. You can also post your own links on our Facebook page or we will do it for you, and we'll Tweet links to your posts throughout the week: the Twitter tag for the week will be #koreablog.

If you want to use one of our 'Korean Blogathon 2012' banners they can be downloaded from here

So there you have it, March 5th till the 11th is when it's all happening so be sure to get involved and lend your support to the Korean cinephile community!