London Korean Film Festival

News and reviews from the annual London Korean Film Festival, most recent articles first. Official website: http://koreanfilm.co.uk/.

LEAFF, LKFF and the battle for our diaries

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by Philip Gowman on 4 October, 2017

in BFI London Film Festival, K-music Festival, London East Asia Film Festival, London Korean Film Festival, Opinion

The film festival season is upon us, and this requires some serious diary planning. Fortunately the BFI London Film Festival remains serenely distant from the ignominious tangle caused by the collision of LEAFF and LKFF. With four titles scheduled earlier in the month, including the movie that I’ve been most looking forward to all year […]

Tagged as: LEAFF 2017, LKFF 2017

London Korean Film Festival 2017: initial programme details announced

by Philip Gowman 11 September 2017

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Details of the programme for the 2017 London Korean Film Festival were announced earlier this evening at the fun-packed and blood-spattered final teaser screening (Jung Byung-gil’s The Villainess). The detailed schedule will follow in due course, but the below press release gives us plenty to mull over in terms of the individual films. As in […]

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Final LKFF 2017 Teaser: The Villainess

by Events Editor 23 August 2017

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This final teaser screening for the 2017 London Korean Film Festival looks rather fun. And to add to the tease, on the same evening the programme for the main festival will be unveiled. See you there. The Villainess (악녀) London Korean Film Festival Teaser Screening + LKFF 2017 Programme Launch Director: Jung Byung-gil (정병길), 2017, […]

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London Korean Festival 2006 – an introduction

by Philip Gowman 16 August 2017

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The London Korean Festival 2006 was the last of the festivals organised by Oh Tae-min and his team, which included Stephanie Seung-min Kim who would go on to be the first curator at the Korean Cultural Centre before moving into the art curatorial world on her own. Previously working from within the Korean Anglican Community […]

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Festival film review: Yourself and Yours

by Robert Cottingham 18 November 2016

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Hong Sang-soo (홍상수) Yourself and Yours (당신 자신과 당신의 것, 2016) Review by Robert Cottingham. You can tell from the opening titles exactly the kind of film this is going to be. Black Korean calligraphy on a white background suggests an intelligent and possibly artistic film and the lively classical music hints at a sophisticated comedy on […]

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Festival report: Park Hong-min Q+A after the screening of “A Fish”

by Robert Cottingham 12 November 2016

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Park Hong-Min was in London yesterday for a 3-D showing of his first film A Fish (2011). He gave a short Q-and-A after the screening. Transcribed by Robert Cottingham. Tony Rayns: I’ll get things going. I take it this film is not based on your own experience? Park Hong-min: Yes, it’s definitely not based on […]

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Brief festival film review: Eoh Woo Dong

by Robert Cottingham 11 November 2016

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Lee Chang-ho (이장호) Eoh Woo Dong (어우동, 1985, 110 mins). Review by Robert Cottingham. Eoh Woo Dong translates as “entertainer,” a rough approximation of the duties of 14th-century Korean courtesan Eoh Yoon Chang. After a lifetime “in service,” Eoh Yoon Chang retires to a faraway village. Meanwhile, her powerful father, ashamed of his daughter’s lifestyle, […]

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Brief Festival Film Review: Kai

by Robert Cottingham 8 November 2016

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Lee Sung-gang (이성강): Kai (카이, 2016, 96 mins) Review by Robert Cottingham Snow Queen Hattan casts a spell over the peaceful village where Kai lives, and covers everything in ice. The River Spirit who is the protector of the village gives the brave young Kai the only key to fighting off Hattan and asks him […]

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Festival film review: Crush and Blush

by Robert Cottingham 7 November 2016

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Lee Kyoung-mi (이경미): Crush and Blush (미쓰 홍당무, 2008) Review by Robert Cottingham. Right near the beginning of Crush and Blush, the main character Mi-seok stands digging a deep hole in a schoolyard. I thought that it was a punishment used in South Korean schools, but if not it could be a visual metaphor for […]

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Festival film review: The Truth Beneath

by Robert Cottingham 6 November 2016

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Lee Kyoung-mi (이경미): The Truth Beneath (비밀은 없다, 2016) Review by Robert Cottingham Lee Kyoung-mi got her start in films working with Park Chan-wook, and from watching this film it seems she has taken his lead when it comes to violent revenge. When a politician’s daughter goes missing the scandal threatens to upset his ambitions […]

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LKFF report: the opening night and The Truth Beneath

by Philip Gowman 4 November 2016

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The eleventh of the London Korean Film Festivals organised by the KCCUK opened on Thursday with a little sprinkling of stardust. Jung Woo-sung, who electrified the audience during the 2014 festival where he was the headline attraction, came to the opening night as just a regular guy wanting to watch a movie. But that didn’t […]

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A look at the 2016 London Korean Film Festival programme

by Events Editor 23 September 2016

Oooh oooh oooh my favourite film of 2012, and in a shortlist for my film of the decade is being screened again. I thought it would never find its way back into a London theatre and that I’d never have the pleasure of seeing it again, because it’s not the sort of movie that they’re […]

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Caught on the plane: Twenty and Memories of the Sword

by Philip Gowman 13 December 2015

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I always look forward to long-haul flights as an opportunity to catch up on all the movies I should have been watching over the past year. And having just returned from an ultra-long-haul holiday, I can heartily recommend Singapore Airlines in-flight entertainment. My only complaint is that there was too much to watch: if the […]

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Festival Film Review: Lee Kwang-guk focus

by Philip Gowman 23 November 2015

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If I had seen no other films at the 2015 London Korean Film Festival, the evenings of films by Lee Kwang-guk would have made the whole festival worthwhile. The first evening featured his second film, the short Hard to Say (2013), along with his debut feature Romance Joe (2012), while the second evening followed up […]

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Festival Film Review: Chung Chang-wha focus

by Philip Gowman 20 November 2015

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Each year the LKFF includes a few golden oldies among its line-up of the latest commercial and art house offerings. This year the festival gave us the opportunity to get to know three films by veteran director Chung Chang-wha, made before he was scouted by Shaw Brothers in 1969. The earliest film to be screened […]

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Festival film review: Love And…

by Philip Gowman 20 November 2015

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Two years ago the revered Korean film critic Tony Rayns asked Moon Sori an awkward question. The question was followed by a sharp intake of breath from the audience who couldn’t believe what they had just heard, and by a few false starts at a response by Ms Moon before she answered fluently. At the final […]

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Festival Film Review: Socialphobia

by Philip Gowman 16 November 2015

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Socialphobia, a debut film from Hong Seok-jae, was one of the fifteen sold-out screenings at this year’s LKFF. For an indie film, it had a strong reception at the Korean box office, aided in part by the actor Byun Yo-han who played in the hit TV drama Misaeng, but also because of its contemporary theme: […]

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