The highlight of Edinburgh Film Festival for me was Korean feel-good masterpiece, I'm a Cyborg And That's OK (pictured left), sort of like Michel Gondry remaking One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. For those wanting to see more of such jems as Oldboy and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring, the new accord between the UK Film Council and the (South) Korean Film Council should see plenty more Korean films shown in the UK, and British films in Korea too.

Under the arrangement, the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) will create a new fund of $200,000 to support prints and advertising costs of UK films distributed in Korea over a two year period, and in return Korean films will access the same level of support from the UK Film Council’s Prints & Advertising Fund.

An Edinburgh film-maker is launching his new horror film, SACRIFICED, at a free preview screening at the city's Cameo cinema. Keith Bradley has written, produced and directed the feature film which he funded from the sale of his house.

Sacrificed is his first feature film. "Basically the whole thing has been a cinematic challenge that I set myself. Could I self-finance a low budget horror film using camcorders that could find its place in the market alongside films made on a bigger budget?" said Bradley.

The award-winning Scottish film Red Road is already receiving acclaim in the American press, ahead of its Stateside launch.  The first feature film by Oscar-winning director Andrea Arnold is set in Glasgow. It features Katie Dickie's harrowing portrayal of a CCTV operator whose life is turned upside down when a shadowy figure from her past appears on the monitor in front of her.

The film will get its first US showings at the Lincoln Plaza and Sunshine cinemas in New York, and the Nuart, in Los Angeles, on April 13.

Gene Seymour, writing for Newsday, in New York, called it "a cunning psychological thriller", and "an ingeniously crafted, well-acted movie".

"Film as media has one great flaw — it's a one-way media with a passive audience. As much as I love to dictate the storyline and control the experience I still wish that the audience could take an active part"
Lars von Trier
 

In the start of a new concept, the release of Lars von Triers latest film, The Boss of It All, apparently contains between five and seven visual clues which the Danish director calls Lookeys. With a 30,000 Kroner (approx £2,750) prize to the first Dane who identifies them all and understands how they connect, the Lookey  is hoping to encourage greater audience participation.  The winner will also get to appear as an extra in his next film: Anti Christ. More info at www.lookey.dk

It all began when Filmingk started distributing this "taut and edgy thriller" about a young man who discovers a DVD on the streets of New York by doing just that.  We left copies of the DVD all over the East Village of Manhattan, with frightening results.

The UK Film Council have unveiled their latest round of Print and Advertising funding.

The Prints and Advertising Fund (P&A) provides £2 million a year for the wider release of specialised, art-house and foreign language film. The P&A support is used to produce extra prints and increase advertising for specialised films which otherwise would only have a limited release in the UK.  The fund also aims to enhance media exposure and publicity ensuring audiences are aware of the opportunities to see the film.

[NB - this article original suggested that the Film Council has paid £1470 to WYSWYG Films based on an FCUK press release. This was in error]

"David's completely avant-garde attitude towards life make this the right film at the right time for this approach."

David Lynch's three-year in the making Inland Empire is to be self distributed in North America, the director announced at the New York Film Festival last Friday. Staring Laura Dern, who takes three roles, the three-hour DV film is set to'explore new models of distribution' according to producer Mary Sweeney. Following agreement from French producers Canal Plus, partnerships with cinemas and home video suppliers are expected to be announced in coming weeks. The director has built up a sizable community of fans with whom he regularly communicates through davidlynch.com, like to form an element of the release.

Oscar-winning documentarian Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September) hadn't been harbouring a strong desire to do a dramatic film. "The pleasure of documentaries are in the spontaneity," he says.

But after working with actors in his last film, the documentary re-enactment Touching the Void, and feeling the need to expand his technique, Macdonald decided to venture into the dramatic realm with The Last King of Scotland. which opens in the US on Wednesday in limited release.