Through this documentary, we review the history of Korean pop music in the 1980s, along with the stories of the teen musicians, who first experienced the changes in the 1990s when ‘music’ was changed to ‘music industry’. In the 1980s, the Korean music industry had a pattern of overworking musicians, and when profits were made … [Read More]
Category: Documentaries (page 3)
Modern Korea Documentary: The Age of Beasts
The Age of Beasts, a compilation documentary by Jeong Jae-eun, is part of the series Modern Korea 2 produced by Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). The programme traces the long struggle for women’s rights, from challenges to the misogynistic legislative system in the late 1980s to first-ever court case against sexual harassment and the enactment of … [Read More]
Modern Korean history documentary double bill at the KCC
Korean Film Nights presents four episodes of the television documentary series Modern Korea 2, produced by the KBS television channel. Each episode uses footage selected from the vast KBS archives to create compilation narratives that look back at the social, political, and cultural themes that have marked Korea’s history over the decades. The footage and … [Read More]
Korean Film Nights: In Transit
In a special collaboration with Bertha DocHouse and Birkbeck University, the KCCUK presents a journey into contemporary Korean documentary. Two of the screenings are online (free) and two at the Bertha Dochouse in Brunswick Square. We’re particularly looking forward to the opportunity of seeing the second instalment of Kim Soyoung’s Exile trilogy, having caught the … [Read More]
Dan Gordon’s North Korean documentaries now available on Vimeo
If you think that progressing beyond the group stages of the Euros is worth celebrating, maybe you’re right. But the success of the North Korean football team in the 1966 World Cup, in which they reached the quarter finals, was a much bigger achievement. They were the first Asian team to have proceeded beyond the … [Read More]
Assassins: the story of Kim Jong Nam’s murder
Thanks to Jason Verney for drawing our attention to this one. Available on demand / online for an unknown length of time, a documentary about the assassination of Kim Jong Nam. Details of where you can rent it can be found on the film’s website, www.assassins-film.co.uk Assassins Dir: Ryan White (2020, 1h 44m) Available online … [Read More]
Festival of Korean Dance 2020: Online Edition
The real-world Festival of Korean Dance at the end of May had to be cancelled, but we now have an online version, with one or two familiar faces represented. It’s great that as well as online performances, we’ve got some documentaries to let us hear more about the performers. And, for the first time, K-pop … [Read More]
Jeronimo Lim Kim – revolutionary father of the Korean community in Cuba
Those who have read Kim Young-ha’s Black Flower will know about the Koreans who migrated to Mexico in 1905 as farm labourers, just before Korea became a Japanese protectorate. By the time their contracts were up, Japan was about to absorb Korea into their growing empire. Now stateless, some of the migrants stayed in Mexico; … [Read More]
Abandoned Heroes No 43 screens in Wimbledon CANCELLED
Another cancellation I’m afraid… A rare documentary – a UK premiere – on the fate of South Korean prisoners of war in North Korea. The documentary has English subtitles. Advance registration is required. Abandoned Heroes No 43 Wednesday 25 March 2020, 7pm Odeon Cinema | 39 The Broadway | The Crescent | Wimbledon | London … [Read More]
In the Absence screens at ICA, with Q+A
Amid all the justified excitement about Parasite, let’s not forget that Korea has another film with an Oscar nomination this year. Its producer, Gary Byung-Seok Kam, is in town to answer your questions at a screening at the ICA this weekend. In the Absence Dir Yi Seung-Jun, South Korea / USA 2018, 29 min., Korean … [Read More]
Glittering Hands screens at SOAS
SOAS Korean Social and Environmental Justice Society host a moving documentary that will appeal to those who loved Planet of Snail. You can watch an Arirang interview with the director here. Glittering Hands 반짝이는 박수소리 + director Bora Lee-Kil Q&A Wednesday, 29 January 2020 at 18:30 SOAS | Thornhaugh Street | London WC1H 0XG Room … [Read More]
Jeronimo: an untold tale of a Korean Cuban revolutionary screens at the KCC
Some London based readers may know the person who assisted with the Spanish in this documentary. Great to see it on screen. Jeronimo: An untold tale of a Korean Cuban revolutionary + Director Q&A Thursday 20 February 2020, 19:00 – 22:00 GMT Korean Cultural Centre UK | 1-3 Strand | London WC2N 5BW Admission free … [Read More]
Exploring the 1980s Korean film collectives with Kim Hong-joon
Organised by the KCC in conjunction with Birkbeck, and acting as a prelude to the Essay Film Festival 2020. Exploring the 1980s Korean film collectives with Kim Hong-joon Saturday 15 February 2020, 18:00 – 20:00 GMT Birkbeck Cinema | 43 Gordon Square | Bloomsbury | London WC1H 0PD Admission free | Register on Eventbrite Filmmaker/programmer/academic … [Read More]
Film Screening: North Korean Ghost Ships
Nicholas Ahlmark (Director) Friday 22 November 2019, 5:15 – 7:00pm SOAS, Paul Webley Wing (Senate House), Alumni Lecture Theatre Register on SOAS website Documentary filmmaker Nicholas Ahlmark, will visit to show his new documentary ‘North Korean Ghost Ships’ and give a Q+A. Director Biography Nicholas has built a career and reputation working on documentaries for … [Read More]
Screening: Returning, After Seventy Years
Wednesday 29 October 2019, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm SOAS | Russell Square | College Buildings Room: 4429 Register online here Synopsis In September 1950 the Daily Worker journalist Alan Winnington released his pamphlet “I Saw The Truth in Korea” which documented atrocities in Daejeon during the Korean War presided over by the South Korean … [Read More]
London East Asia Film Festival 2019: the official press release
London’s annual East Asian film festival returns for its fourth year at the end of October. The 2019 programme includes cinematic offerings from 11 countries, including two movies from North Korea. The festival opens with a South Korean disaster comedy movie and closes with a film by celebrated East Asian actor Aaron Kwok. Here is … [Read More]