A still from the newly found and restored "Crossroads of Youth"

The Korea Society would like you to join them for a special screening of Korea’s oldest surviving silent film that is going to be screened at New York Film Festival. It is a digitally restored historic film that is accompanied by live music and narration. We believe this could be a good study for Film and East Asia Studies both. This is a good opportunity to grasp the vivid look of Seoul in 1930s’s as well.

The Korea Society and the Film Society of Lincoln Center will take audiences to a bygone era when they present Korea’s oldest surviving silent film, Crossroads of Youth, accompanied by musicians and live narrators (byeonsa) of the type found in Korean theaters of the 1930s. This special screening event will take place at 11:00 AM on October 3, in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, as part of the 47th New York Film Festival.

Released in 1934 and recently digitally restored, Crossroads of Youth is a wrenching family tragedy set against the backdrop of Korea’s jarring modernization. To better recreate the original film experience for modern audiences, the film will be accompanied by live musicians, playing period and contemporary music before, during and after the film. Live, dramatic narrators, called byeonsa, will also recap the plot and give voice to the characters’ inner thoughts.

“In recent years the international discovery of Korean cinema has been one of the major events for critics, scholars and lovers of fine film,” said Richard Peña, program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and chairman of the New York Film Festival’s Selection Committee. “This screening of Crossroads of Youth, presented in manner reminiscent of early film shows in Korea, provides powerful evidence that the achievement of Korean filmmakers stretches back many decades, and even into the silent era.”

Directed by Ahn Jong-hwa and featuring Shin Il-seon-star of the legendary, now-lost 1926 silent film Arirang-Crossroads of Youth tells the story of Young-bok, a man who leaves his village for Seoul in hopes of earning enough to support his family back home. However, the metropolis turns out to be a maze of bad luck and corruption.

Tickets for Crossroads of Youth are $20 per person. For more purchase information go to www.filmlinc.com/nyff/tickets.html. The Korea Society and Film Society of Lincoln Center gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Korean Film Archive in supporting this program, as well as KOIS (Korean Culture and Information Service), and Korean Cultural Service NY.

All above information was written by and is courtesy of Yuni Cho from the New York Korea Society, whom you can reach at yuni.ny@koreasociety.org.