A Discussion
with
Ahn Sung-ki
moderated by Hyangsoon Yi, University of Georgia.
Wednesday, August 27, 6:30PM
6:00 PM-7:00 PM ♦ Registration and Reception
7:00 PM-8:30 PM ♦ Discussion and Q&A
The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue, Eighth Floor, New York City
(Building entrance on SW corner of Third Avenue and 57th Street)
Ahn
Sung-ki, the “people’s actor” of Korea, will speak about his long and
rich acting career as well as his own life story that very nearly
coincides with the history of contemporary Korean cinema. Given his
experience as a veteran actor who has appeared in an exceptionally wide
range of genres and roles, Ahn is uniquely qualified to provide an
insider's perspective on the remarkable evolution of South Korean
cinema from its fumbling beginnings into one of the most vibrant
cultural forces in Asia. From his vantage point as president of the
Korean Actors’ Guild, Ahn also will address the relationship between
actors and the national film industry, inter-Asian cinematic projects,
and the “globalization” of Korean cinema.
This discussion,
part of the New York Korean Film Festival 2008 (August 22-31), will be followed by a reception.
$10 for members (The Korea Society or yKAN) and students, $15 for nonmembers
Buy tickets
(Walk-in registration will incur an additional charge of $5)
For more information or to register for the program, contact Yuni Cho at (212) 759-7525, ext. 323 or email.
Tour organized by Hyangsoon Yi, with the generous support of the Korea Foundation.
Co-sponsored by yKAN 
About the Presenters
Ahn Sung-ki's long and successful acting career closely tracks the
achievements of a half-century of Korean cinema. Having starred or
appeared in an outstanding number of the Korean film industry's
greatest artistic and commercial successes, Ahn is commonly referred to
as “the national actor” by the Korean press.
Ahn’s natural
acting style, nuanced treatment of complex roles, and an ability to
play a wide range of characters has earned him the respect and
admiration of audiences and critics alike. After winning "Best Child
Actor" for Defiance of a Teenager at the 1960 San Francisco Film Festival (his second film for cult director Kim Ki-young, who gave Ahn his first role in The Twilight Train
three years earlier), Ahn successfully made the transition from child
prodigy to leading man. Over the course of his 50-year career, Ahn has
compiled one of the best and most eclectic filmographies in the
industry. In his career, he has worked closely with director Im
Kwon-taek on classics like Mandala, Festival, The Taebaek Mountains and Chihwaseon. His acting credits include appearances in Korean cinema’s greatest achievements: Bae Chang-ho's Whale Hunting, Deep Blue Night, and Our Sweet Days of Youth; Lee Kwang-mo’s Spring in My Hometown; Jung Ji-young’s White Badge and North Korea’s Southern Army (for which he received the Blue Dragon Award for Best Actor in 1990); Kang Woo-suk's Two Cops; Park Kwang-soo’s Chilsu and Mansu and To the Starry Island; and Lee Myung-Se’s Nowhere to Hide.
The
winner of scores of prizes from Korean and Asian film festivals,
including five Baeksang Art Awards, Ahn was named "best actor of 1997"
by Cine21, Korea’s leading film magazine. More than a screen
star, he has risen to become an iconic national figure in Korea.
Omnipresent in Korean advertising, he often appears as a trusted father
figure. Indeed, in the parallel history that nations write for
themselves through their art, Ahn has come to represent the human face
of leadership making him a natural for the role of the nation's chief
executive in The Romantic President. He'll soon be tackling a role his fans have longed to see him in when he plays Korea's King Sejong in the upcoming The Divine Weapon.
Hyangsoon Yi is an assistant professor of comparative
literature at the University
of Georgia where she
teaches both Korean and comparative literature and Korean and Japanese cinema.
Yi holds a Ph.D. in English from Pennsylvania
State University
and a Ph.D. in foreign language education from the University of Georgia.
A member of the Film Advisory Committee of the Georgia
Museum of Art since 1997, Yi has
organized two Korean film festivals for the Georgia Museum
of Art and currently serves as an advisor for its East Asian Film Club. She
also has directed the University of Georgia's Korean Language Program, Yi’s
publications include: "Reflexivity and Identity Crisis in Park Chulsoo's Farewell, My Darling" (Seoul Searching: Culture and
Identity in Contemporary Korean Cinema, SUNY Press, 2007);
"Kurosawa and Gogol: Looking through the Lens of Metonymy" (Literature/Film
Quarterly); and "The Homecoming of a Traveller: A Sense of Place in
Brian Friel's Faith Healer" (The Journal of English Language and
Literature).
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