'Boys', the opening film of the London Asian Film Festival... Director Jeong Ji-young's humble remarks: "I'm not an artist."

'Broken Arrow' and 'Black Money' director Jeong Ji-young's new film 'Boys' was selected as the opening film of the 8th London Asian Film Festival and was screened successfully.

Director Jeong Ji-young of the movie 'Boys', which is scheduled to be released on November 1, attended the 8th London Asian Film Festival and had a special meeting with local audiences.

'Boys' is a true story that tells the story of the boys who were identified as the culprits of a robbery and murder case that occurred at a supermarket in a small local town, the detective who reinvestigated the case, and the people surrounding them.

'Boys', which was selected as the opening film of the 8th London Asian Film Festival, announced the start of the festival with strong local interest. The London Asian Film Festival is a film festival held on the 18th (local time) that invites 49 of the most notable films from eight Asian countries, including Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and the Philippines, to enjoy and exchange Asian culture through film. It opens for 12 days until October 29th.

16 Korean films, including 'Boys', 'Concrete Utopia', '1947 Boston', 'Killing Romance', 'The Hwaran', and 'Her Hobbies', will meet the audience during the film festival.

Prior to the screening of the opening film 'Boys', the festival attracted attention by awarding the Lifetime Achievement Award to director Jeong Ji-young. The film festival praised him, saying, “He is a master director who has been presenting works that look into the underbelly of our society through films of various genres for 40 years.” In response, director Jeong Ji-young said, “I am not an artist, but a director who makes popular films, and I am a great artist. “Thank you for the recognition,” he said, expressing his gratitude. It is said that throughout the screening of 'Boys', there were sighs from local audiences who sympathized with the sad situation of the boys. Director Jeong Ji-young, who held a conversation with the audience after the film screening, took the lead in promoting Korean films by enjoying the film festival in a friendly atmosphere with junior filmmakers such as Director Kang Je-gyu, Director Won-seok Lee, and Myung-mi Ha, who attended the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, the London Asian Film Festival is holding 'Capturing the Real World: The Films of Chung Ji-Young' as a special section this year to mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and England. Eight of director Jeong Ji-young's representative works, including 'Boys', 'Confederate Army' (1990), 'White War' (1992), 'Life of a Hollywood Kid' (1994), and 'Broken Arrow' (2012), were introduced in the UK for the first time. While attracting attention, director Jeong Ji-young plans to travel throughout the film festival and have special time with local audiences.

‘Boys’ can be seen in theaters nationwide on November 1.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr