Bitter, Sweet, Seoul is an ambitious crowd-sourced project in which people from around the world were invited by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to submit videos which would be made into feature length film. Directors (and brothers) Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong (collectively PARKing CHANce) were commissioned to organise the submissions, attracted to the project by … [Read More]
Category: Festivals (page 31)
July Jung interview: loneliness, damage and connection in “A Girl at My Door”
July Jung discusses the obstacles facing female filmmakers in Korea, the precarious path to making A Girl at My Door, and her focus on loneliness, abuse, sexuality and prejudice. She explains the rural setting as a social microcosm, her collaboration with Lee Chang-dong, and her belief that intimate, local stories can achieve universal resonance. [Read More]
LKFF2014 – the reviews
This year there have been more reviewers than ever covering the Korean Film Fest. Here are links to some of the reviews, to which I’ll add as and when I spot new ones. Films are listed in the order in which they screened. Title Director Reviews EK = Eastern Kicks | HC = Hangul Celluloid … [Read More]
Your at-a-glance guide to the LKFF 2014 schedule
Having trouble making decisions about which films to attend? Finding the LKL online calendar too cluttered? Here’s an easy-to-read downloadable chart showing the London screenings (plus, for good measure, the screening from the KCC’s Year of the Film Professionals programme, which competes for your attention on 13 November). The pdf download is best printed in … [Read More]
Bringing Kim Hoon’s Hwajang to the big screen: How to act a swollen prostate?
Im Kwon-taek set himself quite a challenge when he decided to make a movie of Kim Hoon’s Hwajang. It is a dense, concentrated and rich piece of writing – I hesitate to say “short story”, because really there’s not much narrative flow. Instead, there’s well-balanced contrast; there’s inner thoughts and emotions; there are the human … [Read More]
LKL’s latest must-see film of the LKFF 2014: The Road Called Life
It’s taking a while to go through the LKFF 2014 programme to prioritise those films which I simply *have* to go to see. So thanks to Frances Yoo from Studio Meditation with a Pencil for alerting me to the title that instantly has gone from “when I get round to it, I’ll look to see … [Read More]
Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits, at LKFF 2014
This is one of the films that LKL will be looking forward to as part of this year’s Korean Film Festival: Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits 만신, Dir Park Chan-kyong (박찬경), 2013 Odeon Covent Garden, Monday 10 Nov, 8:30pm | Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Thursday 20 Nov, 5:30pm A documentary spanning a lifetime, Manshin centres on a … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival 2014: the schedule in detail
Here’s the full schedule of the London Korean Film Festival 2014 for you to optimise your viewing pleasure. Full details will soon be up on the festival’s official website, www.koreanfilm.co.uk. And the tickets will be on sale at the relevant Odeon websites: Odeon West End | Odeon Covent Garden | Odeon Kingston. The 9th London … [Read More]
Kim Seong-hun interview – from relationship comedy to A Hard Day: “after ten years, the mountain changes”
Director Kim Seong-hun discusses his path from assistant director to filmmaker, the genre shift leading to A Hard Day, and how time, failure, and global cinema shaped his approach. He reflects on narrative structure, character-driven storytelling, restrained depiction of sex and violence, and challenging perceptions of Korean cinema. [Read More]
Seven ways in which Hill of Freedom is different from other Hong Sang-soo films
… and some ways in which it isn’t. Hill of Freedom (자유의 언덕) is Hong Sang-soo’s 16th feature, and could not have been made by anyother director. The awkwardness of human interaction and conversation, the bonding over alcohol, the fragmentation of the narrative, the aim to rekindle lost love – all are common features of … [Read More]
Concert review: Ensemble Sinawi at the City of London Festival
How can you adequately describe a gig which touched the highs and lows of human emotion? There were times when the melody sung by the voice or ajaeng had a searing, heart rending intensity which brought a lump to the throat and tears to the eye; and then in the next piece the toes would … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Constancy and Change in Korean Traditional Craft
Nothing prepared you for the sight that greeted you when you entered the room containing the Korean crafts at Tent London. As you were wandering past the various stalls in the main part of the exhibition displaying contemporary crafts from around the world on your way to the “Constancy and Change” room, you might have … [Read More]
Gallery: a collection of photos of the Constancy & Change exhibition
Here are some of LKL’s photos of the recent Constancy and Change in Korean Traditional Craft exhibition held as part of Tent London 2014. The photos are supplemented with images from the press pack provided by the Korea Craft & Design Foundation. Links: LKL’s review of the exhibition [Read More]
Constancy & Change in Korean Craft – the video from Tent London
Here is the official documentary video, put together by the Ministry of Culture and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation, which looks at some of the artisans and their crafts that were exhibited at the special exhibition at Tent London last week: [Read More]
Programme for the 2014 London Korean Film Festival announced
Here’s the official press release announcing the outline of this year’s London Korean Film Festival, together with some of the key screenings that have been confirmed so far. The detailed schedule will be available in October. It’s a great line-up, and there’s plenty to look forward to. Booking and more detail will be available on … [Read More]
Im Kwon Taek’s Hwajang selected to close 2014 LKFF
It’s tremendously good news that the closing gala screening of the London Korean Film festival 2014 is Im Kwon Taek’s 102nd film, Hwajang (western title: Revivre). It synchronises nicely with the KCCUK’s focus on literature this year, as it is based on a short story by Kim Hoon. More importantly, it’s a film that has … [Read More]