In collaboration with Seoul International Pride Film Festival, this special film showcase explores queer narratives from Korea through screenings and discussions with a director and programmer. The film programme centres on Kim-Jho Gwangsoo, widely regarded as South Korea’s most prominent queer film director. In 2013, Kim-Jho and his partner, David Kim Seung-hwan, a film distributor … [Read More]
Category: LGBT
Ilrhan Kim’s “Edhi Alice” closes 2025 Queer East festival
In Edhi Alice (에디 앨리스, 2024), director and queer activist Ilrhan Kim interrogates how documentaries about trans communities are made: the creative decisions, relationships, and ethical questions involved. The subject of the documentary is Edhi, who works as a counsellor for LGBTQ+ teens in Seoul, and has decided to undertake gender reassignment surgery. Edhi’s story intertwines … [Read More]
Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet – the perfect opening to BFI Flare 2025
BFI Flare launched yesterday with a humdinger of an opening movie: Andrew Ahn’s reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 The Wedding Banquet. Ahn’s partner in creating this update, James Schamus, also co-wrote Ang Lee’s version. While the original film features a single gay couple and a marriage of convenience, the reboot has two gay couples, which … [Read More]
Korean films at BFI Flare 2025
This year at BFI Flare we have three films by Korean directors and one by a Korean American. The latter – The Wedding Banquet by director Andrew Ahn – has been chosen to open the festival and includes Oscar-winner Youn Yuh-jung among the cast. Londoners were introduced to Andrew Ahn’s work at Queer East last … [Read More]
Korean films at BFI Flare 2024
Last year BFI Flare had a Korean focus, giving us four feature films and a short. It’s only natural that this year’s offering won’t quite match up to last year’s feast, but still we have one feature and a short: Heavy Snow (폭설) Dir: Yun Su-ik (2023, 77 mins) Cast: Han So-hee, Han Hae-in Monday … [Read More]
Book review: Hawon Jung – Flowers of Fire
Hawon Jung’s book is a thorough and very readable look at South Korea’s #MeToo movement and the problems of misogyny and gender discrimination that gave rise to it. Highly recommended. [Read More]
Sang Young Park, Anton Hur and Simon Lam on Love in the Big City
KCCUK is pleased to announce an in-person talk about the novel Love in the Big City with the author San Young Park and the translator Anton Hur. A fresh and unique debut novel by the bestselling young star of Korean queer fiction, Love in the Big City is an energetic, joyful, and moving novel that … [Read More]
Love in the Big City – Sang Young Park and Anton Hur in conversation
Libreria is thrilled to welcome a star of Korean fiction, Sang Young Park, and brilliant translator, Anton Hur, as they discuss Love in the Big City – a fresh and unique debut novel, longlisted for the 2022 Internatioal Booker Prize. Love in the Big City is about queers and Catholicism, women, abortion, STDs, and 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]
Tiger is Coming: Dolpagu
South Korea’s award-winning theatre company Dolpagu presents the UK Premiere of XXL Leotard and Anna Sui Hand Mirror, a groundbreaking theatre production exploring gender and social class across generations. Junho must keep his secret – he likes to wear women’s leotards. Wearing them stops him stressing about his upcoming college entrance exam. Hee-joo finds out his secret and posts a photo … [Read More]
A Distant Place screens at BFI Flare
Jin-Woo lives a deliberately quiet life in rural Korea, working as a shepherd and looking after his young niece Seol. Though Seol is approaching school age, Jin-Woo keeps their contact with the outside world to a minimum, save for the family that employs him. But everything changes when his college boyfriend Hyeon-min and estranged sister … [Read More]
Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men at the Southwark Playhouse
It’s not often we get plays by writers of Korean heritage getting a substantial run in a London theatre, so show your support for this one. After two attempts at scheduling a run during 2020, we’re hoping this will be third time lucky. Straight White Men Southwark Playhouse | 77-85 Newington Causeway | London SE1 … [Read More]
Artist Talk: Heezy Yang meets Hurricane Kimchi
Heezy Yang will be giving a talk at the British Museum tomorrow: Heezy Yang meets Hurricane Kimchi Moser Room, British Museum, WC1B 3DG Sat, 13 July 2019 | 11:30 – 12:30 BST Free | Registration required Join us for a talk by Heezy Yang as part of ‘The Liminal’, the ‘Queer’ Asia Art Exhibition 2019. … [Read More]
Love without Boundaries: Wanee & Junah
This film has been on my to-watch list for around 15 years. Finally I might get to see it. Wanee & Junah Director: Kim Yong Gyun (2001, 114 mins) Cast: Kim Hee-sun, Joo Jin-mo, Cho Seung-woo, Choi Gang-hee, Kim Soo-jin Thursday 1 August 2019 7:00 pm @KCCUK | Book here Wanee is a disenchanted animator … [Read More]