As we reach the second anniversary of the Sewol sinking, two special events are planned in London. First, the monthly Sewol Stay Put silent protest will be in Trafalgar Square on 16 April in front of the National Gallery, 2pm – 4pm. Later that afternoon will be a free screening of Cruel State (나쁜나라) at … [Read More]
Category: Documentaries (page 8)
Im Heung-soon: Jeju Prayer, Symptom and Sign
The most substantial work in the final session of experimental film screenings at the Tate in September 2015 was Im Heung-soon’s Sung Si (숭 시 – Jeju Symptom and Sign. 2011, HD Video, colour, sound, 24mins), a work which obliquely addresses the 4:3 incident and the Gangjeong naval base. The piece has been made into … [Read More]
Event news: I am Sun Mu screens at Human Rights Watch Film Fest
The documentary about the North Korean defector artist known as Sun Mu gets two screenings as part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. LKL’s review from last Autumn’s Raindance is here. I am Sun Mu Director: Adam Sjöberg Year: 2015 / 80m Language(s): English, Chinese, Korean March 13, 2016 5:30 PM @ Ritzy Brixton … [Read More]
Event news: State of Play, a documentary on pro-gamers, to screen at Asia House film fest
Asia House has published the programme for its 2016 film festival. Two films will be of interest to Korea specialists. Steven Dhoedt’s documentary on the world of professional computer gamers, and Benson Lee’s comedy Seoul Searching. State of Play Dir Steven Dhoedt, Belgium / South Korea, 2013 85 minutes, UK premiere Time: Tuesday, 23 February … [Read More]
A look back at the films and music of 2015
In the second of two articles (the first looked at the world of books) we look at some of the releases of 2015 that caught our eye. Film Two Kickstarter-funded films to which LKL contributed came to fruition: Twinsters, the story of twin sisters adopted in different continents who discover each other through Facebook; and … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Collapse
The second screening in this year’s documentary strand, this movie left you wondering what the director’s intentions were. Indeed, it made you wonder whether there was another guiding spirit which took over the film-making process, editing and shaping the unfinished work of the director. And then you looked at the credits, and discovered that there … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Kim Eungsu — The City in the Water
Write down on a piece of paper a list of techniques you expect to be used in a documentary about a controversial episode in recent history. Maybe it will include archive footage; expert talking heads giving their views of the historical problem; interviews with people who lived through it, witnessed it or even contributed to … [Read More]
Film review: I am Sun Mu, at Raindance
It’s always nice when you are rewarded for staying at the end of a movie to read the credits. Among the names credited for the soundtrack of Adam Sjöberg’s documentary film I am Sun Mu is kayagum player Jung Ji-eun, a well-known player and teacher based in New Malden. It was also nice that she … [Read More]
Kim Soyoung presents part one of her Exile Trilogy at King’s London
Film maker and academic Kim Soyoung was in town last week for a screening of her documentary Heart of Snow, Heart of Blood (2014) in an evening hosted by Chris Berry. She apologised in advance that we were about to see the director’s cut – slightly longer than what will be the theatrical version, and … [Read More]
Event news: Kim Soyoung Q+A after London premiere of Heart of Snow, Heart of Blood
A great opportunity to meet a distinguished director coming up this month: Heart of Snow, Heart of Blood The Centre of Korean Studies, SOAS & KCL Department of Film Studies jointly present A Screening and Conversation with Kim Soyoung, Filmmaker and Professor, Korean National University of the Arts Venue: 1.04 Strand Building, King’s College London, the Strand Time: 5.00 p.m. to … [Read More]
Korean films at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival
The programme for the BFI London Film Festival has been announced and as usual there’s a decent Korean representation. It’s great that Assassination is coming, though I was secretly hoping that it was going to open the London Korean Film Festival in November, giving the organisers an excuse to bring over Jeon Ji-hyun as star … [Read More]
Event news: North Korean defector movie I am Sun Mu at Raindance
Coming to the Raindance Film Festival on 3 October, the European premiere of a documentary about a North Korean artist defector. Tickets will be available from the Vue box office shortly. I am Sun Mu 3 October 2015, 6:20pm Vue Piccadilly, 19 Lower Regent Street, London SW1Y 4LR European Premiere Directed by Adam Sjöberg United … [Read More]
Event news: The Promised Land screens at the ICA
Anna miyoung Kim continues her work looking at the hidden costs of economic development with a film screening of The Promised Land. The screening is free, but registration is essential via [email protected]. The Promised Land Human Rights of Migrant Workers Köken Ergun | Kyongju Park | Santiago Sierra | Ekta Mittal and Yashiswini Raghunandan Wednesday … [Read More]
Film Review: Korean Undertaker and Not One of the Forgotten
For about four years Bona Shin of Theatre for All has been getting to know some of the British veterans from Korean War, particularly those based in the Virginia Water area; and as she got to know them she decided to collect some of their memories and preserve them in documentary form. The resulting two … [Read More]
Sheffield conference report – Comfort Women: Listening To Their Voices
Short of bringing some of the surviving halmonis to the UK in person, it is difficult to imagine how the organisers of this weekend’s gathering in Sheffield could have assembled a better line-up of people to discuss the Comfort Women issue. We had Byun Young-joo, director of the trilogy of documentaries focusing on the Korean … [Read More]
Press preview: Two Korean War documentaries
For a while now Theatre for All have been working with British Korean War veterans, gathering their memories. Some of the fruits of their labours will be revealed this Thursday, the 65th anniversary of the start of the war, in a press preview in Kingston. You can register for the screenings at Eventbrite. Premiere screenings: … [Read More]