The Korea Society once again provided financial and logistical support for the New York Korean Film Festival in 2005 and also served as its fiscal agent. For the fifth year in a row, the best in new wave Korean cinema was brought to the streets of New York under the auspices of this unique event, which is presented annually by Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and organized by Media Bank, Inc. Other festival sponsors this year included the Korean Film Council, the Korean Cultural Service in New York and The Village Voice. The films were screened at The Lighthouse Theater from September 2 to September 6 and at BAM Rose Cinemas from September 7 through September 11. With six international premieres, five North American premieres, two U.S. premieres and two New York premieres, the festival presented 15 films representing a broad cross-section of recent Korean new wave cinema. It included critical favorites and box-office blockbusters, in genres ranging from horror, comedy, and melodrama to sports films, and historical fiction, from veteran and debut filmmakers, stars, and stars-in-the-making alike. The theme of this year's festival, "Truth and Dare," was chosen to emphasize the risk-taking, soul-searching nature of both the characters in the films and the filmmakers themselves in their efforts to arrive at necessary, often painful personal truths. Outside of Korea, there is nowhere else where a general audience can see the many faces of Korean cinema in such a concentrated period of time.

September 2 - 11, 2005