Seeing Music, Hearing Movies! Cineplay and Orfeo Hannam Open Ryuichi Sakamoto Film Festival

A film festival where you can see the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto and hear it through films is being held. Naver Movie's official content partner 'Cineplay' and the music-specialized content screening lounge 'Orfeo Hannam' will hold a small film festival on November 29 (Saturday) and 30 (Sunday). Directors Min Kyung-dong of 〈The Last Story〉, Byun Sung-hyun of 〈Good News〉 〈Kill Bok-soon〉, music critics Hwang Deok-ho, Bae Soon-tak, and Kim Na-hee will participate as GV guests to provide rich and deep commentary along with Cineplay's editor-in-chief Jo Seong-cheol.

Located on the 5th floor of Yongsan Sounds Hannam, the 30-seat premium cinema Orfeo Hannam is a music content-specialized screening lounge equipped with 34 Danish-made Steinway Lyngdorf high-end speaker systems, screening curated films and live performances of opera and classical music, and is loved by film fans for its delicate sound expression.

 There are a total of 5 films being screened. First, it can be called the 'Ryuichi Sakamoto Film Festival' as it screens the 'Ryuichi Sakamoto Documentary Trilogy' consisting of 〈Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda〉 (2017), 〈Ryuichi Sakamoto: Async〉 (2018), and 〈Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus〉 (2023) in order. You can truly feel the taste of Ryuichi Sakamoto's music and performance in the sound-specialized Orfeo. Following that, Hirokazu Kore-eda's feature debut 〈Maborosi〉 (1995) and early works of director Jacques Audiard, who made 〈Rust and Bone〉 and 〈Emilia Perez〉, including 〈The Beat That My Heart Skipped〉 (2005) will also be screened. Cineplay also operates the film import and distribution company 'Cinelux', and all films except for 〈Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus〉 (distributed by Nine Film) are works owned by Cinelux.

The reason Ryuichi Sakamoto's music documentaries have gained renewed interest is due to his son Neo Sora, who served as the director and cinematographer, gaining attention with his film 〈Happy End〉 (2024). 〈Happy End〉, invited to the Orizzonti section of the 81st Venice International Film Festival, is Neo Sora's first feature film, which attracted 130,000 viewers domestically and received enthusiastic support from cinephiles. Neo Sora, who was active between New York and Tokyo, began to gain attention after receiving high praise for his short film 〈The Chicken〉 (2020) in the French film magazine 'Cahiers du Cinéma', and he took charge of the cinematography for 〈Ryuichi Sakamoto: Async〉 and 〈Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda〉, and directed 〈Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus〉, which captures Ryuichi Sakamoto's last performance, firmly establishing himself as 'Director Neo Sora'. Thus, while making his father's documentary, he transitioned into the world of feature films with 〈Happy End〉. It is an opportunity to experience Ryuichi Sakamoto's documentary with vivid and immersive sound, where you can deeply feel the traces of his son Neo Sora, to the extent that it can be expressed as 'Neo Sora Begins'.

Among the films being screened at this festival, two other films owned by Cinelux cannot be missed. First, the early work of Jacques Audiard, who has been loved by Cannes, winning the Palme d'Or for 〈Dheepan〉 (2015), the Jury Prize for 〈A Prophet〉 (2009), and the Jury Award and Best Actress for 〈Emilia Perez〉 (2024), will be screened: 〈The Beat That My Heart Skipped〉 (2005), which can be called 'the master loved by Cannes'. It depicts the dreams and challenges of gangster Thomas (Romain Duris), who abandoned his dream of being a pianist and makes a living as a real estate broker, returning to the piano after 10 years. The French national actor Romain Duris challenged himself to play the piano, performing almost all scenes without a double, which became a hot topic, and the soundtrack, which features Alexandre Desplat, who has won the Academy Award for Best Music twice for films such as 〈The King's Speech〉, 〈The Shape of Water〉, and 〈The Grand Budapest Hotel〉 (2015), is also noteworthy. 〈The Beat That My Heart Skipped〉 traverses from Bach's classical melodies to electronic music and won the Silver Bear (Best Film Music) at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be a great opportunity to experience Alexandre Desplat's musical ambition in the sound-specialized Orfeo.

Considered one of the most beautiful debut films in film history, 〈Maborosi〉 (1995) is the first feature film by director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who continued to work on documentaries in his early career. Yumiko (Esumi Makiko), who married and lived happily with Ikou (Tadanobu Asano), finds her peaceful life shattered when Ikou commits suicide one day. As time passes, she remarries while carrying the dulled wounds but cannot completely shake off the memories of Ikou, and cracks begin to form in her life. Based on Teru Miyamoto's novel 「Maborosi」, 〈Maborosi〉 won the Golden Osella (Best Cinematography) at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival and was strongly influenced by the Taiwanese New Wave works of Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang at the time. The fact that the music was composed by music director Chen Ming-chang, who worked on Hou Hsiao-hsien's 〈Goodbye South, Goodbye〉 and 〈The Puppetmaster〉, is also a point that reflects that influence. With its outstanding landscape aesthetics, which is praised as having the best cinematography among Kore-eda's films, and the film music that reflects the influence of the Taiwanese New Wave, it will be an opportunity to appreciate 〈Maborosi〉 through a different approach at Orfeo.

*Reservations and cancellations for the films can be made through the Orfeo Hannam KakaoTalk channel below, and ticket purchases and seat selections can be made in person after the ticket box opens on the day. Parking is available via valet service at the underground parking lot behind the Sounds Hannam building, and the screening schedule is as follows.

Go to Orfeo Hannam Instagram (@ode.orfeo) (https://www.instagram.com/ode.orfeo)

Go to Orfeo Hannam KakaoTalk (http://pf.kakao.com/_KeTxnj)

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* For inquiries about the film festival, please contact Orfeo (02-512-4093) or Cineplay (02-325-0233).