It would be an understatement to say that the cultural year 2020 has been markedly different from previous years. The pandemic has had a huge impact on the cultural scene, with most live events cancelled and event promoters falling back on the internet to provide us with our cultural fixes. Some of these attempts have […]
Category: London Korean Film Festival
Review: Hong Sang-soo – The Woman who Ran
The time was right. Not having seen a Hong Sang-soo film for a few years – and he himself has had an unusual two-year break since his last one – I was perhaps ready to reacquaint myself with his work. It was a cold misty winter’s afternoon. I had just taken a rare day off […]
London Korean Film Festival 2020 – the detailed screening list
Update: the festival organisers have responded to the second Covid lockdown by pushing two of the theatrical screenings into December: Lee Joon-ik: The Happy Life, Fri 4 Dec, 6:10pm, Genesis Cinema Lee Hae Jun, Kim Byung Seo: Ashfall, Sun 6 Dec, 6pm, Genesis Cinema Here’s the detailed list of screenings in the 2020 London Korean […]
LKFF 2020 announces its line-up
This is now the 15th edition of the festival organised by KCCUK. As is to be expected, this year is somewhat different, with many of the screenings taking place online. There’s plenty to enjoy in the programme. We’re particularly looking forward to Mark Morris’s selection of Mudang films. Here’s the official press release; we’ll be […]
LKFF Teaser Screening: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
The first LKFF Teaser screening of the year: Kim Ji-young: Born 1982 (82년생 김지영) + Introduction by Sarah Shin Dir: Kim Do-young (2019, 118 mins) Cast: Jung Yu-mi, Gong Yoo Tuesday 12 May 2020, 18:15 Barbican Cinema 2 | Beech Street | London EC2Y 8DS Tickets £12 | Buy tickets Based on Cho Nam-joo’s landmark […]
London Korean Film Festival 2019 – the detailed schedule
Here’s the detailed schedule for the London screenings in the London Korean Film Festival. You can find the press release here. Check for updates on the festival’s official website, koreanfilm.co.uk. Time Title Strand Venue Friday 1 November 19:00 The Seashore Village (갯마을) + Q&A Dir: Kim Soo-yong (1965, 91 min) Opening Gala RSC Saturday 2 […]
London Korean Film Festival 2019: the official press release
Here is today’s official press release that announces the line-up for the 2019 London Korean Film Festival: The London Korean Film Festival (LKFF) has launched its full programme of films and events for the upcoming 14th edition, taking place from 1st-14th November in London before embarking on the annual tour 18th-24th November. The Special Focus, […]
LKFF 2019 Teaser Screening #5: Kokdu, + LKFF Programme Launch
The final teaser screening before the November festival: Kokdu: A Story of Guardian Angels (꼭두 이야기) UK Premiere, plus launch of 2019 London Korean Film Festival programme Director: Kim Tae-yong (2018, 79min) Cast: Kim Sun-an, Choi Go, Cho Hee-bong Monday 16 September 2019, 7pm Regent Street Cinema | 307 Regent Street | London W1B 2HW […]
LKFF 2019 Teaser Screening #1: Winter’s Night
This looks like an interesting start to the KCC’s series of teaser screenings: Winter’s Night (겨울밤에) Director: Jang Woo-jin (2018, 98 mins) Starring: Yang Heung-ju, See Young-hwa Picturehouse Central, Monday 15th April 2019, 6:30pm | Book tickets Picturehouse Central welcomes back the London Korean Film Festival for a UK Premiere of Winter’s Night. One cold […]
A look back at some of the films of 2018
A wide variety of genres was presented to the London audience this year, from the return of the romantic melodrama (Be With You) to big budget fantasy (Along with the Gods). We also saw #MeToo beginning to have an impact, not just in the themes of movies such as Land of Seonghye and Testimony but […]
Festival Film Review: The Return
I was as delighted as I was surprised when I saw that the London Korean Film Festival had selected The Return for its closing gala screening. The huge numbers of overseas adoptions from Korea is often a sidelined subject and understandably wouldn’t be a natural choice when showcasing Korean culture and arts. But the 2018 […]
Festival Film Review: Microhabitat
Miso just about gets by, living in a cockroach-infested room, earning just enough to pay the rent by taking low-paid cleaning jobs. She has to budget carefully, and can just afford a couple of her little indulgences: smoking cigarettes (preferably foreign brands), and frequenting whisky bars for a drop of single malt on the way […]
Festival mini movie review: Love+Sling
A sporting rom-com involving a love triangle whose vertices are a well-meaning but over controlling single father (Yoo Hae-jin, 1987); his dutiful son (Kim Min-jae) who is obliging his father by training hard in the skill of greco-Roman wrestling; and the pretty girl next door (Lee Sung-kyung), who inconveniently and inexplicably fancies the father rather […]
Festival film review: This Charming Girl
Lee Yoon-ki (이윤기) This Charming Girl (여자, 정혜, 2004, 99 mins). Review by Robert Cottingham. You know how people talk about reality TV, even though there is nothing ‘real’ about it? Well, if you wanted to see actual reality, the sheer day-to-day mundane-ness of the average person’s life, then this film is the closest you […]
Mini review round-up: the 2018 LKFF Teaser screenings
Sometimes I just don’t have the time to marshal any thoughts about a movie after seeing it. Daily life takes over any before I know it I’ve watched another movie and the memory of the previous one is dimming fast. But as I’ve been on holiday for a few days away from the daily grind, […]
The film festivals approach – as does the annual battle for our diaries
Last year I had a little rant about the hectic and competing schedules of the two overlapping film festivals of interest to the Korean film audience. The London Korean Film Festival has had a long history of packing so many films into their programme that it’s impossible to go to everything you want to see. […]