Superheroes in Asia

September 25, 2008 In 1967, the same year American TV audiences were enjoying the debut of the first animated "Spider-Man" series on ABC, Korea's first full-color animated feature, "A Story of Hong Gil-dong," bowed in local movie theaters. The phenomenon was Korea's contribution to a decades-long era of enormous popularity for superhero films throughout Asia, so it makes sense that the Pusan International Film Festival will kick off a spotlight on the genre with a screening of a refurbished 35mm print of "Hong Gil-dong." Featuring 11 movies from eight Asian countries made between the 1950s and the present, Superheroes in Asia is an ambitious attempt to reintroduce a new generation -- as well as an international audience -- to a little-known niche in Asian popular culture that has long been overshadowed by America.

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