5th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival

JIMFF - poster

The 5th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (JIMFF) is taking place from August 13 to 18 in the city of Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do. This year’s film festival includes about 90 music-related films of diverse genres from 35 countries.

13th PiFan Film Festival

PiFan - poster

The Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) kicked off its 13th year on July 16 in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do. The festival will run for 10 days, screening 201 films from 41 countries under the theme of ‘Love, Fantasy, Adventure’.

Celebrities including Ahn Sung Ki, Jang Na Ra, and Ku Hye Sun walked the red carpet.

Minimix 20

• Singer-DJ Koo Jun Yup is holding a press conference on May 6 to address rumours about being involved with drugs. It is reportedly out of concern for his mother’s health that DJ.Koo is making it clear that he should not be accused of doing drugs every time a celebrity drug scandal breaks out. He feels wronged, as May 2 was the third time he has been investigated by the police for drug abuse in his lifetime, solely based on the fact that he is a club DJ. A source close to Koo said that he doesn’t even smoke and is concerned at how the accusations cause stress to his family members.
  

  Koo Jun Yup

• Lee Ha Na (26) and Ahn Sung Ki (57) are lovers in the melodramatic film, Fair Love (페어 러브), which began filming this month. Ahn plays a middle-aged photographer who begins seeing a 26-year-old university student at the request of his friend. As he falls in love with the young woman, he rediscovers purpose in his life. Fair Love is a low-budget film being produced with less than $800,000 USD.

• Xiah Junsu of TVXQ/DBSK injured his leg during rehearsal on May 3, forcing him to perform on stage in a wheelchair at the Kobe concert on May 4. Despite obviously being unable to dance, Junsu still sang all of his parts as planned. DBSK’s ’2009 – The Secret Code’ tour will hit 10 Japanese cities in coming months.
  

  Junsu & Jaejoong

• Click here for the teaser to an extended commercial for LG’s OZ service. This is part of OZ generation’s ‘We Start‘ campaign starring Kim Beom, Kim Min Ji, Yoo Seung Ho, Lee Yeon Hee, Kim Kibum, and Choi Ara. The theme song, “We Live in Oz”, is by Clazziquai (vocals by Horan).

• Moon Geun Young showed off a different side at her fan meeting on May 2 at her current school, Sungkyunkwan University. She practiced with pro dance group, Friends, for two weeks to perform in front of approximately 700 fans in attendance.
  

  Moon Geun Young & Friends

  The event was also in celebration of her 22nd birthday. Painter of the Wind co-star Moon Chae Won made a special appearance, while Kim Tae Hee and Bae Soo Bin were among several who video-recorded their congratulatory messages. Members of her fan club, Angels, brought Moon Geun Young to tears upon surprising her with a video message from children at Ends of the Earth Study Room and the announcement that they donated books and supplies to the facility.

• MC Mong put up a picture on his minihompy of himself and girlfriend Joo Ah Min. The caption read, “The happiness of my life”.
  

  Joo Ah Min & MC Mong

• Actress Choi Jung Won (The Kingdom of the Winds) visited Bangladesh last week to volunteer with children in poverty. In particular, she made ties with three siblings who are living with their grandparents in a difficult financial situation. Choi promised to send the monthly support to lighten the burden on the eldest sibling who, at age 15, is supporting the family with his low income as a rickshaw driver. By doing so, she is giving the eldest sibling an opportunity to upgrade his education at a vocational school. She returned before the weekend to host the Children’s Day (first Sunday of each May) special, ‘Love Concert to Give Hope to Children of the Global Village’.
  

  Choi Jung Won

• A week away from his musical comeback, Jun Jin seriously injured his wrist while filming Infinity Challenge on April 30. Despite the injury, he did a photo shoot for his upcoming mini-album’s jacket cover on May 1 and filmed the music video overnight on May 2. Jun Jin is planning to go ahead as planned and perform on Show! Music Core on May 9 to promote his mini-album, which is being released on the same day. He has been recommended to get surgery shortly.

• Brilliant Legacy is off to a strong start. Within two weeks, it gained the top position among weekend dramas with a viewership of 23.2%. KBS historical drama, Iron Empress, pulled in 16.5%, while new MBC sports drama, Strike Love, trailed at 7.7%.
  

  Lee Seung Gi & Han Hyo Joo