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Milky Way Liberation Front @ the 2008 BIFF

Say what? It’s actually the title of a movie by first-time director Yoon Seong-ho. The director/ screenwriter’s movie is taking part at the 2008 Bangkok International Film Festival (BIFF), which kicked off yesterday (Sept 23).

Milky Way Liberation Front (MWLF) is the one and only movie from South Korea. The witty flick is all about life imitating art imitating life imitating art– you get the picture. According to the Tribeca Film program notes, MWLF sounds very much like a parody on director Yoon’s efforts in making a movie.

The story centres on Ryu Young-jae (Im Ji-gyu portraying director Yoon), who is screening his short film at the Pusan International Film Festival in October. He’s also courting a famous Japanese star to topline his first full-length feature.

He hasn’t penned the script yet but knows that he wants it to involve Siamese twins and a protagonist who loses his ability to talk(!). To add to the problem, everyone from the cinematographer to the sound engineer has an idea on how the story should unfold.

On top of that, Young-jae’s girlfriend (played by Seo Young-joo) dumps him saying that he doesn’t know how to communicate. And just like the protagonist in his upcoming movie, Yoon also loses the ability to speak! Things just aren’t going well for the director and his problems continue to increase.

Sounds like a fun movie. Has anyone seen it yet? MWLF is listed in the World Cinema section. I have no idea what that means – is it in competition or is it just invited for screening? The official website is no help, by the way.

Malaysia is being represented by director James Lee’s Breathing in Mud/ Bernafas Dalam Lumpur (2005) and horror flick Hysteria/ Histeria (2007) and Woo Ming Jin’s Days of Turquoise Sky/ Kurus (2008).

The 2008 BIFF runs from Sept 23 until Sept 30 at the SF World Cinema, CentralWorld and Aksra Theatre, King Power Complex.

Source: BIFF , HanCinema & Tribeca Film

Tags: Events