Once again, AFI Silver joins with the Freer and Sackler Galleries to celebrate the cinema of South Korea, year in and year out one of the most exciting places on the planet for moviemaking. This year's lineup of new films is supplemented by a selection of favorites from past years, plus a retrospective tribute to director Lee Chang-dong. The festival was organized by Tom Vick, film programmer for the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution, and Hyunjun Min of the University of Maryland.

For complete festival information, visit www.asia.si.edu/KoreanFilm2008

This festival is made possible by the Korean Film Council and the Korea Foundation.

All films are 35mm and in Korean with English subtitles unless otherwise noted.

ALL FILMS NOT RATED

Member passes will be accepted for all AFI Silver screenings in the Korean Film Festival.

DASEPO NAUGHTY GIRLS
[Dasepo sonyo]

Welcome to No Use High, where the students and teachers only seem to have one thing on their minds. Featuring an uproarious opening musical number and a yodeling song-and-dance routine by "Anthony, the Exchange Student from Switzerland," Lee Je-young's twisted musical comedy makes fun of everything from internet dating to cross-dressing. But beneath the bawdy jokes, it's a touching story about a poor, shy girl trying to fit in at the weirdest high school imaginable. Intended for mature audiences.

DIR Lee Je-yong; PROD Dong-gyu Ahn. South Korea, 2006, color, 103 min. INTENDED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES.

Friday, April 4, 9:45

I'M A CYBORG, BUT THAT'S OK
[Saibogujiman kwenchana]

Best known for the stylized violence of films like OLDBOY and LADY VENGEANCE, Park Chan-wook takes a lighter turn with a whimsical tale of love in a mental institution between a kleptomaniac and a girl who thinks she's a robot. Park's genius for color and visual design is everywhere evident in this poignant, playful, pastel-hued romance.

DIR/SCR Park Chan-wook; SCR Seo-Gyeong Jeong. South Korea, 2006, color, 105 min.

Friday, April 11, 9:00

GREEN FISH
[Chorok mulkogi]

Returning from the military to find his hometown transformed into a maze of skyscrapers, a young man falls in with a vicious gang as his family struggles to make ends meet. A story of lost innocence in the new Korean economy, the directorial debut of novelist and screenwriter Lee Chang-dong is a surprisingly beautiful and moving film.

DIR/SCR Lee Chang-dong; PROD Gye-nam Myeong and Kyun-dong Yeo. South Korea, 1997, color, 111 min.

Thursday, April 24, 9:00

OASIS

In Person: Director Lee Chang-dong

"A daring heartbreaker" - Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

Special Director's Award, 2002 Venice Film Festival

Best Actor and Best Actress, 2003 Seattle Film Festival

Paroled after serving time for drunk-driving manslaughter, socially inept Sol Kyung-gu attempts to apologize to his victim's family, with predictably abysmal results. But the disastrous meeting yields an unlikely outcome: he befriends the victim's daughter Moon So-ri, who has cerebral palsy. Director Lee Chang-dong, against the odds, creates a moving mindblower, one of the Korean New Wave's vanguard of edgy melodramas -courting controversy and breaking taboos.

DIR Lee Chang-dong. South Korea, 2002, color, 132 min.

Saturday, April 26, 2:45

SECRET SUNSHINE
[Milyang]

In Person: Director Lee Chang-dong

2007 Official Oscar submission from South Korea for Best Foreign Language Film

Lee Chang-dong's latest feature is one of the most acclaimed films of the past year. An emotional rollercoaster about a grieving mother seeking solace, its plot raises thought-provoking questions about faith, love and loss. Actress Jeon Do-yeon's finely detailed, emotionally wrenching performance earned her the Best Actress award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

DIR/SCR Lee Chang-dong, based on the novel by Chong-jun Yi; PROD Lee Hanna. South Korea, 2007, color, 142 min.

Sunday, April 27, 7:00