Good chemistry

Families can learn more about the field of chemistry today at Windward Mall. "Chemistry at the Mall" will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Centerstage. "Behind the Scenes with Chemistry" is this year’s theme for the National Chemistry Week event. Keiki will be fascinated by scientific fun with Vinod Veedu, host of "Weird Science with Dr. V" on the sunrise morning news program. For information on Chemistry Week, visit www.acs.org.

‘Lost’ actress returns to S. Korea for festival

BUSAN, South Korea » "Lost" actress Yunjin Kim is making a homecoming of sorts this week at South Korea’s Pusan International Film Festival.

The 36-year-old Korean-American actress recently completed her six-year stint on the hit American TV series, which aired its finale in May. She is now plunging back into the Asian movie industry where she first made her name.

At Pusan, Asia’s leading film festival, she is serving as a juror for the event’s New Currents prize for emerging Asian filmmakers.

"American audiences have very little knowledge of Asian film in general. … Hopefully international film festivals such as Pusan will change that in the future," Kim said at a news conference yesterday.

Kim, who was born in Seoul but moved to the U.S. at age 10, shot to fame in her native land by playing an undercover North Korean spy in the hit 1999 thriller "Shiri."

She kept working on South Korean productions while juggling her "Lost" duties. "It was always a pleasure coming back and working on a Korean movie," she said.

Looking back at "Lost," the convoluted, time-jumping tale of a group of plane crash survivors facing mysterious phenomena, Kim called the experience "life-changing."

"It was a new type of drama," she said. "In my humble opinion, when there is a discussion about U.S. television shows in the 21st century, ‘Lost’ will be one of them, so I’m really proud to be part of that TV show."

Concert to benefit people with HIV

A choral concert to benefit Save the FoodBasket, featuring Cantores Hemolele, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Church of the Crossroads on University Avenue.

Cantores Hemolele is an informal group of local singers that specializes in traditional Latin church music and contemporary Hawaiian sacred songs, a news release said.

The first half of the concert will feature Big Island guitarist Franz Solmssen playing selections of English Renaissance works by composer William Byrd; and the second half, new compositions of sacred Hawaiian mele by local church musicians.

Save the FoodBasket is a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 that offers nourishing food and aloha to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS on Oahu.

Concert tickets are $15. They are available at www.thefoodbasket.org; by calling 744-6377; or at the door. Refreshments will be served.