BFI Flare launched yesterday with a humdinger of an opening movie: Andrew Ahn’s reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 The Wedding Banquet. Ahn’s partner in creating this update, James Schamus, also co-wrote Ang Lee’s version. While the original film features a single gay couple and a marriage of convenience, the reboot has two gay couples, which … [Read More]
Category: Festivals
Festival of Korean Dance 2025 – programme details announced
Here’s the official press release for the 2025 Festival of Korean dance. This year, in addition to performances at The Place in London, the festival tours to Bournemouth, Salford and Newcastle. A Festival of Korean Dance returns for its eighth year with 17-strong ensemble headliner and a live rock band Presented by the Korean Cultural … [Read More]
K-Dance 2025 on tour to Bournemouth, Salford and Newcastle
The 2025 Festival of Korean Dance visits three venues outside of London: the double bill Kontemporary Korea visits Bournemouth (9 May) and Newcastle (15 May), while Ham:beth by Modern Table visits Salford (20 May). Modern Table’s programme is identical to their performance at the Place (programme details here), but the Kontemporary Korea programme is different … [Read More]
K-Dance 2025: Ham:beth by Modern Table
Boy-band meets Shakespearean drama in this energetic all-male show by Modern Table. Seven dancers in slick suits battle against the pressure to conform. Claiming their right to desire, their quests push them into becoming lone heroes. Loosely inspired by depictions of madness in Hamlet and Macbeth, Ham:beth combines traditional Korean songs with a live rock … [Read More]
K-Dance 2025: Kontemporary Korea: A Double Bill of K:Dance
Kontemporary Korea is a showcase of two of the freshest new voices in K-dance, each finding inspiration and play in the balance between the mundane and the virtuosic. The event will be followed by a post-show discussion. 0g (zero grams) by Melancholy Dance Company Inspired by the repetitive and seemingly pointless actions of the mythical figure Sisyphus, 0g utilises the … [Read More]
K-Dance 2025: Jungle by Korea National Contemporary Dance Company
Amid the chaos we create order. Jungle is our life. A seventeen-strong company gathers onstage for an extraordinary spectacle of vitality. Based on ‘Process Init’, an unconventional movement research method developed by Korea National Contemporary Dance Company’s artistic director Sung-young Kim, Jungle is full of wildly instinctive movements which expand and unfurl, rich with the energy of survival. The dancers embody … [Read More]
Korean films at BFI Flare 2025
This year at BFI Flare we have three films by Korean directors and one by a Korean American. The latter – The Wedding Banquet by director Andrew Ahn – has been chosen to open the festival and includes Oscar-winner Youn Yuh-jung among the cast. Londoners were introduced to Andrew Ahn’s work at Queer East last … [Read More]
Korean crafts at Collect 2025
As spring approaches, Collect — the leading international art fair for contemporary craft and design — looks forward to welcoming visitors to the stunning neo-classical rooms of Somerset House in central London, for a five-day celebration of international contemporary craft and design. Presented by Crafts Council, and recognised as being at the forefront of the … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival Announces 2024 Programme
Here’s the official press release for this year’s London Korean Film Festival, released today. Some good things here! Korean Cultural Centre UK announces London Korean Film Festival 2024 Programme Opening Gala Film: Park Beom-su’s VICTORY Closing Gala Film: E.oni’s LOVE IN THE BIG CITY Special Screening: Choi Dong-hoon’s ALIENOID: RETURN TO THE FUTURE London, 1 … [Read More]
London East Asia Film Festival 2024
LEAFF is back for its 9th edition. Bringing the best of East Asian cinema to the heart of London, the 9th London East Asia Film Festival is back from 23rd October to 3rd November 2024. Kicking off LEAFF with a pulse-pounding Opening Gala, Escape is a high-stakes Korean action thriller that vividly portrays the harrowing … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival 2024 – detailed schedule
Ranging from new releases to independents to special strands, the London Korean Film Festival is the largest Korean film festival outside of Korea. To complement the BFI’s Echoes in Time season, the festival will present two strands of films that will screen at BFI Southbank, Cine Lumiere and ICA – Women’s Voices, showcasing 15 years … [Read More]
Hong Sangsoo’s latest to screen at the BFI London Film Festival
Isabelle Huppert is reunited with Korean maestro Hong Sangsoo in an irresistibly enigmatic comic vignette about language, poetry, exile and the art of communication. In her third collaboration with South Korea’s super-prolific auteur, Isabelle Huppert – here at her most slyly mischievous – plays Iris, a Frenchwoman in Korea who offers language classes using her … [Read More]
K-Music Festival 2024: an introduction
The programme for the 2024 K-Music Festival is quite possibly the best yet. For LKL, the real gems are the opening and closing events. We hear that the National Changgeuk Company‘s Lear, which opens the festival, is every bit as good as their Trojan Women, which we raved about; and for the closing event pretty … [Read More]
K-music 2024: Lee Heemoon’s Obangsingwa tour in London
Heemoon Lee, the visionary vocalist of SsingSsing, takes us on a transcendental musical journey with his band OBANGSINGWA and their new album, SPANGLE. A powerhouse of Korean music, Lee injects fresh energy and new life into time-honoured Korean folk songs (minyo). Seamlessly blending minyo with a kaleidoscope of genres – including jitterbug, pop, dance, rock … [Read More]
K-music 2024: Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra x No-Noise
Find yourself in the bustling centre of a town square with No-Noise’s energetic and distinctive blend of Korean and Western sounds and instruments. Performing with the outstanding musicians of the Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra (SMTO), No-Noise is a dynamic ensemble led by Lee Il-woo, the visionary behind the post-rock sensation Jambinai, and Sung Si Young, … [Read More]
K-music 2024: Black String
Extraordinary Contemporary Sounds from Ancient Instruments. The 2018 Songlines Music Awards winners Black String will premiere new music from their upcoming album set to be released this autumn, following their acclaimed albums Mask Dance (2016) and Karma (2019) on the German label ACT. ‘a spellbinding experience’ (The Guardian on Black String’s K-Music Show) ‘no boundaries … [Read More]