Director Amanda Kim tells, for the first time, the story of Paik’s meteoric rise in the New York art scene and his Nostradamus-like visions of a future in which “everybody will have his own TV channel.” Thanks to social media, Paik’s future is now our present, and NAM JUNE PAIK: MOON IS THE OLDEST TV shows us … [Read More]
On Screen: Film and TV (page 2)
Return to Seoul preview + director screentalk
In this emotionally charged and vibrant film from Davy Chou, a young French woman returns to Korea for the first time since her adoption. A surprising and deliciously sleek movie, Return To Seoul follows Freddie (Park Ji-min), who, on-a-whim, travels to Korea, where she’s persuaded into seeking out her biological family. This is only the … [Read More]
Queer East Festival: A Korea Focus
Here is a listing of the eight Korean feature films, six shorts and one VR experience that are included in this year’s Queer East film festival. You can find the full press release here. Film descriptions are courtesy of the Queer East website. Time Movie Location Book Thu 20 Apr 9:00pm Peafowl (공작새) Dir: Byun … [Read More]
Queer East 2023 announces a Focus Korea strand
Hot on the heels of the BFI Flare festival, Queer East this year also has a Korean focus, with eight feature films, six shorts and one VR cinematic experience. The selection includes one UK feature premier, plenty of recent films plus some opportunities to revisit the back catalogue. In a separate post we’ve listed out … [Read More]
Korean movies at BFI Flare
BFI Flare, London’s LGBTQIA+ film festival, this year has four Korean feature films plus one short. There is also a first-come, first-served discussion with some of the Korean film makers. Ticket links – and links to full details with movie synopsis on the BFI website – are below. Discussion: Spotlight on South Korea Saturday 18 … [Read More]
Korean Film Nights: Seoul on Screen
The Spring 2023 season of screenings at the KCC is a collaboration with the Korean Film Archive that brings a series of films, from the 1950s to this century, that feature South Korea’s capital as a setting. The full programme note setting the context for the season as a whole can be found on the … [Read More]
Broker: UK theatrical release
On a rainy night in Busan, So-young (Lee ‘IU’ Ji-eun) leaves her baby Woo-sung outside a ‘baby box’, a safe place set up in Korean churches for new mothers to leave unwanted infants. Instead, he’s picked up by Sang-hyun (Parasite’s Song Kang-ho) who runs an unofficial adoption brokerage and plans to find him a new … [Read More]
Darcy Paquet on translating Park Chan-wook
As magazines start publishing their Best of 2022 lists, we are reminded of Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave – which I think would top many people’s list of top Korean films of the year, and is #3 in the BFI’s list of films from all countries. It’s slightly ironic that BFI support their selection of … [Read More]
Festival film review: The Apartment with Two Women | Gyeong-ah’s daughter
London audiences have been spoiled with some great films in the recent festivals, from the latest blockbusters to indie debut features. Both LEAFF and LKFF included in their programme a debut feature by a female director, focusing on mother-daughter relationships and headlining actors who have not had much screentime in the mainstream. LEAFF’s selection was … [Read More]
Hunt: UK theatrical release
Agents of the Korean National Intelligence Service (KNIS), Park Pyung-ho (Lee Jung-jae) and Kim Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung) are both independently hunting a North Korean spy within the agency. When the leaked top secret intel jeopardises national security, they are ordered to investigate each other and slowly start to uncover the shocking truth. HUNT is a … [Read More]
Festival film review: Hommage
In her first feature, Passerby #3 (2010), Shin Su-won looked at the life of a woman who left her job to try to become a film director. In her latest, she returns to a similar movie-making theme. Hommage is about a middle-aged movie director, Ji-wan, whose films have never been much of a success. She … [Read More]
Yun Choi: Running at the Speed of Light, the Body Becomes a Turtle
LUX is delighted to present the first UK solo exhibition by South Korean artist Yun Choi in partnership with the London Korean Film Festival. Yun Choi collects images, words and behaviours marked by South Korean banality and remixes them for her videos and multimedia installations. Through the fantastical embodiment of vernacular culture, her practice activates a … [Read More]
Leesong Hee-il’s Shallow gets world premiere at Raindance Film Fest
Mother disappeared. Son faces the truth that was hidden for thirty years. In 1983, a twisted love story among a woman, a revolutionary, and a fraktsiya unfolds. A film about memory, Swallow explores what happens when hurtful memories pass back out of the deep pit and present their corpse. When Hoyeon’s mother inexplicably disappears, he … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival 2022: the detailed schedule
Here’s your at-a-glance no-clicks-required version of the detailed schedule for this year’s London Korean Film Festival: Time Title Strand RSC = Regent Street Cinema | ICA = Institute of Contemporary Arts | PHC = Picturehouse Central | GC = Garden Cinema | CL = Ciné Lumière | Gen = Genesis Cinema | Rio = Rio … [Read More]
Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave – theatrical release
What happens when an object of suspicion becomes a case of obsession? Winner of Cannes Best Director in 2022, Park Chan-wook (OLDBOY, THE HANDMAIDEN) returns with a seductive romantic thriller that takes his renowned stylistic flair to dizzying new heights. When detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) arrives at a murder scene, he begins to suspect the … [Read More]
London East Asia Film Festival 2022 programme announced
The London East Asia Film Festival (LEAFF), the capital’s most celebrated champion of East Asian cinema and culture, headed by Festival Director Hyejung Jeon, opens its 7th year on 19th October at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square with the UK premiere of HUNT, the latest spy action drama directed by the award-winning Actor Lee Jung-Jae. This … [Read More]