As in previous years, the London East Asia Film Festival has a strong representation of Korean films. Although this year there is a focus on Taiwan and the Nara International Film Festival, there’s also a focus on the work of actor Kim Yoon-seok, who also features in the opening movie, Dark Figure of Crime.
At the time of writing the programme is still in its last stages of finessing, and some of the timings have yet to be confirmed, but the below should be more than enough to whet the appetite. Korean films are highlighted in red text.
LEAFF 2018 Programme
25 October – 4 November 2018
LEAFF 2018 will bring 60 titles from 13 countries of East and Southeast Asia, including 6 international, 8 European and 23 UK premieres. There will be 9 strands that run throughout the festival: Official Selection, Actor Focus, Stories of Women, Competition, Festival Focus, Documentary, Horror Special and The First Look.
The overarching theme of LEAFF 2018 is the future and what the future will bring to our lives. 20 filmmakers and actors will attend to participate in screenings and events in five cities around the UK.
Official LEAFF Selection
- DARK FIGURE OF CRIME + Q&A with Director and Actor Kim Yoon-seok | Kim Tae-gyun | South Korea | 2018 | 110 mins | OPENING GALA
- RAMEN SHOP | Eric Khoo | Singapore, Japan, France | 2018 | 90 mins | CLOSING GALA
- PROJECT GUTENBERG + Q&A with Director | Felix Chong | Hong Kong | 2018 | 130 mins | SPECIAL GALA
- HUMAN, SPACE, TIME AND HUMAN | Kim Ki Duk | South Korea | 2018 | 122 mins
- YOCHO (FOREBODING) | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Japan | 2017 | 140 mins
- FATHER TO SON | Hsiao Ya-Chuan | Taiwan | 2018 | 115 mins
- RIVER’S EDGE | Isao Yukisada | Japan | 2018 | 118 mins
- SUNSET IN MY HOMETOWN | Lee Joon-ik | South Korea | 2018 | 123 mins
- 10 YEARS JAPAN | Akiyo Fujimura, Chie Hayakawa, Yusuke Kinoshita, Megumi Tsuno and Kei Ishikawa | Japan | 2018 | 99 mins
- 10 YEARS THAILAND | Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Wisit Sasanatieng, Aditya Assarat, Chulayarnnon | Thailand | 2018 | 95 mins
- NEGOTIATION | Lee Jong-suk | South Korea | 2018 | 114 mins
- BROTHER OF THE YEAR | Witthaya Thongyooyong | Thailand | 2018 | 124 mins
- BUYBUST | Erik Matti | Philippines | 2018 | 130 mins
Actor Focus: Kim Yoon-seok
- DARK FIGURE OF CRIME + Q&A with Director and Actor Kim Yoon-seok | Kim Tae-gyun | South Korea | 2018 | 110 mins
- 1987: WHEN THE DAY COMES | Jang Joon-hwan | South Korea | 2017 | 129 mins
- THE CLASSIFIED FILE | Kwak Kyung-taek | South Korea | 2015 | 108 mins
- HWAYI: A MONSTER BOY | Jang Joon-hwan | South Korea | 2013 | 126 mins
Cinematic Journey Through Taiwan
- A CITY OF SADNESS | Hou Hsiao-Hsien | Taiwan | 1989 | 160 mins
- A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY | Edward Yang | Taiwan | 1991 | 237 mins
- TROPICAL FISH + Q&A with Director | Chen Yu-hsun | Taiwan | 1995 | 108 mins
- 10 YEARS TAIWAN | Pei-Ju Hsieh, Kek Huat Lau, Po-shun Lu, Lekal Sumi, Rina Tsou | Taiwan | 2018 | 108 mins
Stories of Women
- MISS BAEK + Q&A with Actress Han Ji-min | Lee Ji-won | South Korea | 2018 | 98 mins
- GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY | Yang Mingming | China | 2018 | 117 mins
- SEN SEN + Q&A with Director | Bon An | Taiwan | 2017 | 103 mins
- GO-GO SISTERS | Nguyen Quang Dung | Vietnam | 2018 | 118 mins
- TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY | Tai-lee Chan | Hong Kong | 2017 | 91 mins
- COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING + Q&A with Directors | Kim Gwang Hun, Nicholas Bonner, Anja Daelemans | United Kingdom, Belgium, North Korea | 2012 | 81 mins
Competition
- A LAND IMAGINED + Q&A with Director | Yeo Siew Hua | Singapore, France, Netherlands | 2018 | 95 mins
- THE BOLD, THE CORRUPT, THE BEAUTIFUL | Yang Ya-che | Taiwan | 2017 | 112 mins
- FEBRUARY + Q&A with Director | Kim Joong-hyun | South Korea | 2017 | 82 mins
- DEAR EX | Mag Hsu, Chih-Yen Hsu | Taiwan | 2018 | 99 mins
- DISTINCTION + Q&A with Director | Jevons Au | Hong Kong | 2018 | 98 mins
- GLASS GARDEN + Q&A with Director | Shin Su-won | South Korea | 2017 | 116 mins
- GREAT BUDDHA + + Q&A with Actor Cres Chuang | Huang Hsin-yao | Taiwan | 2017 |104 mins
- THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN | Kamila Andini | Indonesia, Netherlands, Australia, Qatar | 2017 | 86 mins
- WANGDRAK’S RAIN BOOTS | Lhapal Gyal | China | 2017 | 90 mins
- THE WIDOWED WITCH | Cai Chengjie | China | 2017 | 140 mins
Festival Focus: Nara International Film Festival
- EMBRACING | Naomi Kawase | Japan | 1992 | 40 mins | 8mm
- KATATSUMORI | Naomi Kawase | Japan | 1994 | 40 mins | 8mm
- THE WIND FROM PERSIA | Misaki Matsui | Japan | 2018 | 35 mins
- KOFUKUNA | Ayane Nakasu | Japan | 2017 | 39 mins
- GOOD AFTERNOON | Akira Yamamoto | Japan | 2017 | 30 mins
- THE GIRLFRIEND | Saki Michimoto | Japan | 2017 | 28 mins
Documentary
- INTENTION + Director and Producers | Kim Ji-young | South Korea | 2018 | 110 mins
- 14 APPLES | Midi Z | Taiwan, Myanmar | 2018 | 83 mins
- I’VE GOT THE BLUES | Angie Chen | Hong Kong | 2017 | 90 mins
- I’VE GOT A LITTLE PROBLEM | Ximing Zhang | China | 2017 | 44 mins
Horror Special
- SATAN’S SLAVES | Joko Anwar | Indonesia | 2017 | 107 mins
- THE WITCH + Q&A with Director and Actress Kim Da-mi | Park Hoon-jung | South Korea | 2018 | 126 mins
The First Look
- MAD RUSH | Lee Heejun | South Korea | 2018 | 17 mins
- S HE | Shengwei Zhou | China | 2017 | 11 mins
- EXEMPLARY CITIZEN | Kim Cheol-hwi | South Korea 2018 | 12 mins
Here is a chronological listing of the Korean films in the festival. Tickets for all screenings are now available via Eventbrite.
| Time | Title | Strand | Venue |
| ECL = Electric Cinema | VLS = Vue Leicester Square | VP = Vue Piccadilly | OO = Odeon Oxford | |||
| Thursday 25 October | |||
| 19:00 | DARK FIGURE OF CRIME + Q&A with Director and Actor Kim Yoon-seok Dir: Kim Tae-gyun (2018, 110 mins) |
OFFICIAL LEAFF SELECTION Opening gala | VLS |
| Friday 26 October | |||
| 10:00 | 1987: WHEN THE DAY COMES + Q&A with Director and Actor Kim Yoon Seok Dir: Jang Joon-hwan (2017, 129 mins) |
ACTOR FOCUS: KIM YOON SEOK | ECL |
| 17:00 | THE CLASSIFIED FILE Dir: Kwak Kyung-taek (2015, 108 mins) |
ACTOR FOCUS: KIM YOON SEOK | VP |
| 19:00 | DARK FIGURE OF CRIME + Q&A with Director and Actor Kim Yoon Seok (2nd screening) Dir: Kim Tae-gyun (2018, 110 mins) |
ACTOR FOCUS: KIM YOON SEOK | VP |
| 22:00 | HUMAN, SPACE, TIME AND HUMAN Dir: Kim Ki Duk (2018, 122 mins) |
OFFICIAL LEAFF SELECTION | VP |
| Saturday 27 October | |||
| 12:00 | HWAYI: A MONSTER BOY Dir: Jang Joon-hwan (2013, 126 mins) |
ACTOR FOCUS: KIM YOON SEOK | VP |
| 14:00 | INTENTION + Q&A with Director and Producers Dir: Kim Ji-young (2018, 110 mins) |
DOCUMENTARY | VP |
| 19:15 | MISS BAEK + Q&A with Actress Han Ji-min Dir: Lee Ji-won (2018, 98 mins) |
STORIES OF WOMEN | VP |
| Sunday 28 October | |||
| 20:30 | HUMAN, SPACE, TIME AND HUMAN (Oxford) | OO | |
| Monday 29 October | |||
| 19:30 | EXEMPLARY CITIZEN Dir: Kim Cheol-hwi (2018, 12 mins) MAD RUSH Dir: Lee Heejun (2018, 17 mins) part of I’VE GOT A LITTLE PROBLEM + THE FIRST LOOK screening |
THE FIRST LOOK | VP |
| Thursday 1 November | |||
| 16:00 | COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING + Q&A with Directors Dir: Kim Gwang Hun, Nicholas Bonner, Anja Daelemans (2012, 81 mins) |
STORIES OF WOMEN | VP |
| 18:30 | NEGOTIATION Dir: Lee Jong-suk (2018, 114 mins) |
OFFICIAL LEAFF SELECTION | VP |
| Friday 2 November | |||
| 19:00 | THE WITCH + Q&A with Director and Actress Kim Da-mi Dir: Park Hoon-jung (2018, 126 mins) |
HORROR SPECIAL | VP |
| Saturday 3 November | |||
| 16:30 | FEBRUARY + Q&A with Director Dir: Kim Joong-hyun (2017, 82 mins) |
COMPETITION | VP |
| 19:00 | GLASS GARDEN + Q&A with Director Dir: Shin Su-won (2017, 116 mins) |
COMPETITION | VP |
| Sunday 4 November | |||
| 13:00 | SUNSET IN MY HOMETOWN Dir: Lee Joon-ik (2018, 123 mins) |
OFFICIAL LEAFF SELECTION | VP |
Links:
(automatically generated) Read LKL’s review of this event here.