Four contemporary Korean films acclaimed internationally for direction, acting and powerful narration will be screened at the 10th Pune International Film Festival from 12-19 January 2012.

Mother, Directed by Bong Joon-ho, 2009
An unnamed widow living alone with her only son sells grain in a small town in South Korea. Her son, Do-joon, is a shy, quiet and somewhat mentally challenged young man. The simple-minded Do-joon is convicted unjustly of murdering a young school girl. His defense attorney is unreliable and the police trick Do-joon into signing a confession. His mother, horrified and unconvinced that Do-joon is ever capable of murder, decides to undertake her own investigation to find the killer. Takes up the case on her own. Unafraid and undeterred, this mother will stop at nothing to exonerate her son’s name.

Haeundae,Directed by Youn Je-gyun, 2009
Park Ae-ja was known as the “Tolstoy of Busan” when she was in high school. Dreaming of a career as a professional novelist, she moves to Seoul after graduation. Years later, Ae-ja is a 29-year-old woman with huge debts and a boyfriend who is cheating on her. But she remains confident and proud of herself. That is, except in front of her mother, Young-hee who disapproves of her daughter’s wild and free-spirited life. On her brother’s wedding day, Ae-ja plans revenge on her mother by staging a surprise event that nearly ruins the happy ceremony.
However, the character-propelled film downplays predictability as a pair of talented leading ladies lift the film with powerful performances.

The Housemaid,Directed by Lim Sang-soo, 2010
The story focuses on Eun-yi, played by Jeon Do-yeon, who becomes involved in a destructive love triangle while working as a housemaid for an upper-class family. Eun-yi, a middle-aged divorcee, is hired as an upper class family housemaid. But soon enough, the master of the house Hoon takes advantage of his social position and seduces her. Hoon’s visits become frequent and Byung-sik, an old housemaid, reports the affair to Hae-ra’s mother Mi-hee, who plots to give Hae-ra the control over her husband. Soon Eun-yi becomes pregnant and wants to keep the baby. This is discovered by the family and she is forced to have an abortion by Mi-hee despite Eun-yi’s plea to let her keep the baby and leave the house. Mi-hee’s plot backfires when Hoon admonishes her for terminating his child, even if that child is conceived illegitimately. The forced abortion devastates Eun-yi and she decides to take matters into her own hands.
The film is a re-make of Kim Ki Young’s 1960 classic titled The Housemaid, hailed by many as one of the greatest films of all time. It competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

The 10th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) , 12 - 19 January, 2012 is organized by the Pune Film Foundation in association with the Government of Maharashtra. The Festival will screen a range of films in various sections such as Global Cinema, Indian Cinema, Retrospectives, Competition Sections in World & Marathi films; Director Focus or Evergreen Classics, Student Film Competition Section, and the Tribute section that pays homage to people who have made an outstanding contribution to Indian and World cinema. PIFF will showcase approximately 200 films from 60 countries across 6 major venues. There will be workshops, seminars, exhibitions and interactive sessions with film makers during the Festival period.

For registration and further information, please contact T: +91 20 24424545/ 24424746 or write to piff.india@gmail.com.