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Santa Barbara Invites 3 Korean Films

The 24th Santa Barbara International Film Festival kicks off this week with 3 Korean features invited to screen during 11-day run January 22 – February 1. In the International Features competition section, Kim So-yong's "Treeless Mountain" will have its U.S. premiere, vying for top honors along with 12 other features.

Another U.S. premiere is Kim Yoo-jin's Chosun dynasty-set adventure "The Divine Weapon" selected to screen in the East X West section, along with 2007 Korean horror, "Our Town", directed by Jeong Gil-yeong.

"Treeless Mountain" has already screened at numerous festivals, holding its world premiere in Toronto and going on to win the Best Film prize in Dubai and the Jury prize at Tokyo FILMeX. It tells the tale of two young sisters shuffled from home to home. Following Santa Barbara, it will screen at the 59th Berlinale.

"The Divine Weapon", loosely based on actually history is an epic tale of Korea's creation of Singijeon, a variation of the Chinese fire arrow. "Our Town" tells the story of a serial killer on the loose and a struggling horror writer who commits a copycat killing.

Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)

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