After the overwhelming success of last year’s inaugural event, the two-day K-Culture convention, created by giant South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM and Mnet, promises to be packed with amazing performances from a star-studded lineup of K-Pop stars. In addition, there will be special activities, giving fans the chance to get close to their favourite idols, the organisers said.

In 2018, Thailand had its first experience of the premier international K-Culture convention. The event received an incredible response from local K-Pop fans, attracting more than 42,000 visitors over two days, with tickets sold out in just a few hours.

In response to the demand, KCON 2019 Thailand returns with a convention double in size to offer an even wider range of activities, all related to K-Culture, encompassing the best in Korean music, food, beauty, fashion and lifestyle. The artists’ line-up will be released soon, the organisers said.

The convention and concert franchise was launched in 2012, and has grown each year attracting over 966,000 enthusiasts around the world. KCON is now an established annual celebration for hallyu fans of Korean music, food, beauty, fashion, drama and more, providing the largest forum for fans to directly connect with each other, as well as with artists and professionals from across the Korean entertainment industry, the organisers said.

The convention also provides the chance for local entrepreneurs to join and introduce their products at this K-Culture convention.

Applications for booths at KCON 2019 Thailand convention are now available until August 22 at www.kconthailand.com/booth/apply.

The event will also launch a new communication channel for Thai fans, with the KCON Live Chat starting on July 18. The live streaming will be hosted by Prae, a famous South Korean culture youtuber from the Hi Prae channel, and will offer the latest updates and exclusive content about KCON, the organisers said.

Live streaming will be available on Twitter @KCONThailand at 6pm every Thursday.

Since its inception, the brand has expanded internationally, with KCON festivals taking place in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Paris, Mexico City and Sydney (Australia).

Admission is free.

“Genghis Khan” will be screened at 1pm. The film, based on the life of the legendary Mongol conqueror, was made in 1950 and dramatises the daring exploits of Temujin, the 12th-century Mongol prince. Following a land rights feud, the young prince is unaware of tribal leader Burchou’s plans to massacre other chiefs during a feast. Though the prince makes a narrow escape, when he returns home he finds his village destroyed. Driven by the desire to seek revenge, Temujin competes in the “Man of Men” contest and plots a scheme to expose Burchou’s treachery while falling in love with the enemy commander’s daughter. His path to become The Great Conqueror is strewn with blood and obstacles.

“Genghis Khan” premiered in 1952 at the Venice International Film Festival. The prints were thought to have been lost, but the international version made in the US were accidentally discovered. This version has an English track overlay on the original Tagalog track. A restoration process followed and the film was invited for screening in Venice again in 2012.

The film is dubbed in English with English and Thai subtitles.

Director Manuel Conde started his film career in “Mahiwagang Biyolin” in 1935. Later, he founded his own film company, Manuel Conde Pictures, in 1947. In 1950, he directed and starred in “Genghis Khan”, which was the first Filipino film to gain international recognition. Its success became a trail-blazer for the Filipino movie industry.

The second film to be shown is “Moon Over Malaya”, which tells the story of Ngok Ming, an idealistic young man who wants to develop the educational standards in Malaya. He approaches a wealthy Chinese businessman to raise funds for building schools and meets the young heiress, Cho-lin. After a whirlwind romance, they get married. However, Ngok Ming struggles to balance his passion for education and performing his duty of managing the family business. As conflicts between the characters escalate, Ngok Ming and Cho-lin make decisions that change their lives forever.

For more information, please call (02) 482 2013 – 14 or visit www.facebook.com/thaifilmarchivepage

The film was made in 1957 and is one of the “Nanyang Trilogy”. The film is in Cantonese with English and Thai subtitles and tells the story of overseas Chinese in the Malayan Peninsula.

According to sgfilmlocations.com, The Nanyang Trilogy started when film director Chan Man and his colleague Chun Kim, general manager and film director at Kong Ngee in Hong Kong, sought opportunities in Southeast Asia so they shot a series of films there. In 1956, a compact location-filming crew of about 10 members, including Chun Kim, Chan Man, scriptwriter/director Chor Yuen, actors Patrick Tse Yin and Patsy Kar Ling, arrived in Singapore with three film scripts tentatively titled “Blood Stains the Valley of Love” (released with the same title in 1957), “Quest for a Long-Lost Husband”, and “Moon Over Malaya”. These three films were labelled collectively as the Nanyang Trilogy and were all set in Malaya and Singapore and would feature film locations from major cities and townships across the Malayan Peninsula — Singapore, Johor Bahru, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh and Taiping.

The challenge, which began on Thursday, is an original production by Sunway to promote Sunway City Kuala Lumpur as the region’s premier tourist destination aligned with the nation’s tourism ambition.

The production is the first reality series that features Asia’s hottest social media superstars and has garnered more than 15 million viewers across Asia. All iflix viewers in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand can catch the event on iflixFREE and iflixVIP.

Hosted by Malaysia’s top influencer, Jenn Chia, the event features Asia’s top 10 social media superstars: Thailand’s SorDor Style, Malaysia’s Jaa Suzuran, the Philippines’ Medyo Maldito, India’s RJ Abhinav, Indonesia’s Michelle Joan, Singapore’s Matthew Stewart, Taiwan’s Ironbull, China’s Gong Yi, South Korea’s Hong Young Gee and United Arab Emirates’ Hadia Ghaleb in a battle across Sunway City Kuala Lumpur to be crowned The Amazing Sunway City Challenge champion.

They will be exploring Sunway City’s attractions and taking on challenging activities. Some of the most daunting tasks include a bungee jump in Sunway Lagoon, team mission in Sunway Pyramid’s ice skating rink and hurtling down the world’s largest water ride, Vuvuzela.

Comprising theme park Sunway Lagoon, Malaysia’s first themed mall Sunway Pyramid and a collection of hotels, Sunway City Kuala Lumpur reportedly welcomes 42 million visits yearly.

“Our commitment is to offer and deliver our customers a collection of premium content, specifically for the younger demographic. Sunway’s boundary-pushing venture into original programming, featuring the region’s most celebrated social influencers, is a welcome addition to iflix’s ever-growing free short form offering for the mobile-first generation,” said Craig Galvin, iflix Global Head of Content.

“We took a different approach in our branding exercise for Sunway City Kuala Lumpur when we decided to produce this reality show. We are proud that this became a popular show in our social media and became viral. We look forward to expanding the reach of our original production to iflix’s ardent viewers in this region,” said Jane Poh, Sunway group brand marketing and communications senior general manager.

The Bangkok Asean Film Festival rolled to an end earlier this week, with rookie director Phuttiphong Aroonpheng picking up yet another award for his debut oeuvre, “Kraben Rahu” (“Manta Ray”), which became the first Thai movie to win Best Film in the Orizzonti (Horizons) section of last year’s Venice International Film Fesitval.

“Manta Ray” was recognised with the Best Asean Film award, earning Phuttiphong a $10,000 cash prize and a trophy. “Balangiga: Howling Wilderness” from the Philippines won the Jury Prize with $5,000 in cash and a trophy and the Vietnamese film “The Third Wife” won the Special Mention award with $2,000 and a trophy.

“Mantar Ray” tells the story of a local fisherman (Wanlop Rungkumjad) who discovers an injured man (Aphisit Hama) in the forest. The fisherman rescues the stranger, who doesn’t speak a single word. He later calls the stranger “Thongchai” after Thai superstar Thongchai “Bird” McIntyre. One day, the fisherman mysteriously disappears from Thongchai’s life. Thongchai meets Saijai (Rasmee Wayrana), the fisherman’s ex-wife, and bit by bit, Thongchai begins to take over his friend’s life.

Minister of Culture Vira Rojpojchanarat presided over the closing ceremony and presented the awards to winners during the closing ceremony at Sky Lobby SF World Cinema, CentralWorld. The closing ceremony was attended by Permanent Secretary for Culture Kitsayapong Siri, executives of the Ministry of Culture, the National Board of Film and Video, the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations, the festival’s committee, the festival jury members, and representatives from film agencies of 9 Aean member nations, as well as Thai and international celebrities.

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Garin Nugroho, a veteran filmmaker from Indonesia.

Referring to agreement made at the 8th meeting of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Arts and Culture on October 24, 2018, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, at which the year 2019 was designated as Asean Culture Year, Vira noted that the Thai Culture Ministry had been active in promoting cooperation among film industry professionals in Asean as well as expanding Southeast Asian films to the international market. “The Ministry is pushing the Thai film and video industry to become the production and distribution centre, or hub of Asean, in accordance with the third phase of the Strategic Development Plan for Film and Video Industry (2017-2021), which focuses on using the cultural dimension to promote international relations, generate new sources of income for the country, and establish Bangkok as a film centre of Southeast Asia,” the minister told the audience.

The Thai government, through the Ministry of Culture and in co-operation with the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations and other agencies, hosted the 5th Bangkok Asean Film Festival 2019 from July 3-8 at SF World Cinema, CentralWorld, and Paragon Cineplex, Siam Paragon.

The festival screened films selected by embassies or film agencies of the 10 Asean member nations, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. This year the programme was extended to include titles from China, South Korea and Japan and featured 30 films from 13 countries. Another highlight was a program called Roundtable, a talk and workshop series organised by Purin Pictures Foundation featuring sessions with leading filmmakers from the region, held at Alliance Francaise Bangkok from July 4 to 7.

Gwangju Police Station said the actor was arrested without a warrant at around 10.50pm at his home in Gwangju, a city southeast of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province.

According to police, Kang is suspected of raping a staff member of a production company and molesting another at his home on Tuesday evening. Kang and the two women had gone to the actor’s place for a second round of drinks after a company dinner.

One of the two women sent a text message to a friend at 9.41pm., saying she was “trapped at (Kang Ji-hwan’s) place”. After receiving a report from the woman’s friend, police went to Kang’s home, separated Kang from the women and arrested him.

During questioning, Kang told police he had been drunk and has no memory of the incident. “I remember drinking but have no memory of what happened next. When I woke up, I found myself in the room where (the staff) had fallen asleep,” the police quoted him as saying.

Citizens expressed outrage when it emerged that actress Lee Yeol-eum had dived to the bottom of a pond in a national park and scooped up three giant clams, an endangered species, which were then cooked on the show.

Giant clams are protected by the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act and cannot legally be hunted or traded.

Violators can be jailed for up to four years and/or fined up to Bt40,000.

The TV show’s producer, SBS Broadcasting, issued a statement on Friday expressing deep regret for disrespecting park regulations and vowing to be more careful in the future.

But Narong Kong-iad, chief of Hat Chao Mai National Park, said the producer was well informed of the regulations.

“Sea resources in Hat Chao Mai cannot be caught, hunted or cooked, and the cast was fully aware of that because the officer thoroughly informed them of the restrictions before filming,” Narong said.

Jatuporn Buruspat, director of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, said the National Parks Department had already filed a formal complaint.

“This was clearly an illegal action because the giant clam is identified in the appendix to the CITES agreement protecting wildlife internationally,” Jatuporn said.

“The authorities previously complained about a food show on which an eagle ray was cooked, even though the marine animal is not yet listed as an endangered species. There is no excuse, since they have to do their research before filming begins.”

Nariaroj Fuanggrabil, head of the film board that give the Koreans permission to shoot in the park, posted a photo of the document on Facebook.

It forbids any depiction of hunting on the show and bars the cast and crew from areas under National Parks control. The producer, Nariaroj wrote, was fully aware of regulations.

The crew allegedly sneaked into a prohibited area as well.

A forest ranger assigned to monitor their activities on Koh Mook within the park said a storm prevented them from filming one day so they called for a boat to take them back to their hotel.

But with their minders from a film coordinating company involved, known as the 6th Element, out of sight, the crew slipped into the area where they seized the giant clams.

The authorities only discovered this transgression when it was aired as part of the show, said Nariaroj.

The producer has been blacklisted from further filming in Thailand, while the 6th Element was let off with a warning.

It’s the second new Korean drama debuting this month after the politically charged “Designated Survivor: 60 Days”, a remake of an American series of the same name.

“Rookie” is a period love story involving aspiring historian Goo Hae-ryung, who dreams of a future in which all people are equal, and Prince Yi Rim, a lonely man who leads a double life as a romance novelist.

The series is set in the 19th-century Joseon Dynasty, when conservative clinging to the past was the norm. The government wishes to record the history of the queen’s quarters and needs a woman historian for the job, so an unprecedented exam is held for female candidates and Goo gets the job in the palace.

Goo, played by Shin Se-kyung, is brazen and honest and believes that the calligraphy brush is mightier than the sword. Shin is known for her leading roles in “The Bride of Habaek” and “Black Knight: The Man Who Guards Me”.

Cha Eun-woo, known for “My ID is Gangnam Beauty” and a member of the K-pop boy band Astro, plays Yi Rim, so of the king and second in line to the throne. But his father dislikes him and even considers him a threat to the royal family.

“Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung” is written by Kim Ho-soo and directed by Kang Il-soo and Han Hyun-hee.

Two episodes a week will air on Netflix.

The portrayal is horrific in its intensity and brevity, cutting away quickly and returning moments later with police tape up and haphazard sheets unable to contain the crimson carnage draining down the floor.

From the other side of the tape, an 8-year-old Luke who has just run outside to escape his traumatic home life looks on, and is soon comforted and led away by another boy, Daniel, to go to the playground.

However, Daniel, as the title makes clear, is not real.

“Daniel Isn’t Real” was one of 10 films in the international Bucheon Choice competition at BIFAN, which ran June 27 to July 7 just west of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province. After its Korean premiere on June 29, director Adam Egypt Mortimer — who would go on to win the Best Director Choice prize on Friday — sat down with The Korea Herald.

“I want to make a movie that’s visual and exciting,” Mortimer said on the 96-minute film about main character Luke and imaginary friend Daniel. “And here’s these little kids and their imaginations coming to life.

“As they get older it becomes less about imagination and more about facing the darkness of reality.”

For all their imaginative play, Daniel turns out to be a tragically bad influence on the real child, and is locked away out of his life until a crucial moment in Luke’s first year at university.

“The premise of this movie is that at 19 years old he (Luke) lets this imaginary force back into his life and that undoes everything,” Mortimer set up. What or who Daniel is, though, may be more than a figment of imagination.

The exploration of Daniel starts from the mundane and gradually expands into various possibilities of the incredible or supernatural, simultaneously as Luke’s world and sanity seem to be ripping apart. Is Daniel actually something explainable, perhaps an allegory for the mental breakdown of a young man who does not yet know who he is? Maybe. Whatever Daniel is, it is something that connects to us all.

“We all have a black hole inside of us, the whole human race has a black hole inside of us. Is that mental illness? Is that a result of our trauma? Is it actually a f—— demon?” the excited director posed.

When Mortimer met writer Brian DeLeeuw more than seven years ago and read his novel on which the movie was based, “In This Way I was Saved,” all he could think about was getting a movie made. “Originally, when we wrote it, it was the story of someone who thinks he’s possessed and then it turns out he’s crazy,” the director said, commenting that at first, “I felt like it was a very nihilistic story I was interested in telling.”

The story’s direction changed many times over, and after the 2016 US presidential election he no longer felt the general public needed reminded of the stark negativity surrounding them. “It became more about how do we acknowledge that we live in this dark nihilistic place and still maintain empathy?”

What started as an aspiring filmmaker’s goal to get something on the big screen became personal. “As we started processing the story, it became to me more about — when I was the same age as Luke, my best friend in college had this complete schizophrenic breakdown,” Mortimer confided. “Looking back on that years later, I see that being a hugely traumatic moment in my life.”

The world around Luke in “Daniel Isn’t Real” is deeply populated in characters with their own problems, particularly classmates trying to discover just who they are. Reflecting on the experience with his best friend, Mortimer commented that at 19 when everyone is seeking strange experiences, “It’s impossible to tell who among your peers is really suffering and really mentally ill.”

“I think that mental illness, demons, fate, tragedy, family, trauma — all of these things become sort of equated in what we’re seeing in the movie,” he said, before offering a glimmer of hope. “If anything in this experience feels familiar to you, then I feel like you’re going to be more attracted to and elated by seeing it unfold than you are to be crushed by the way that it resolves.”

As he thinks to his years ahead in filmmaking, Mortimer said he is content staying around the $5 million budget he had for “Daniel Isn’t Real,” but hopes to turn around future projects more quickly. “I’ll probably keep coming back to trying to make something exciting and cool and beautiful out of a bleak point of view,” he said. “Maybe that’s just something that’s inescapable for me.”

Just as bleak, perhaps, is his outlook on the film industry, as he worries that recent trends in big-budget blockbusters and episodic content will squeeze out two-hour self-contained films.

“I think that every movie is going to have to spray water and vibrate your seat,” the director joked. “It’s a bummer.”