This lecture presents an overview of Activism and Post-Activism: Korean Documentary Cinema: 1981-2022 (Oxford University Press, 2024), the first-ever English-language monograph on Korean non-fiction film and video practices in the non-governmental and non-corporate sectors from their foundational period (early 1980s) to the present. Making tripartite connections between the socio-political history of Korea (from the 1980s … [Read More]
Director: Kim Dong-won
Selected publications
- Chung Hye Seung, David Scott Diffrient: Movie Minorities: Transnational Rights Advocacy and South Korean Cinema, Rutgers University Press 2021
The Sight and Sound top 100: what’s buried in the detail?
Back in December 2022, Sight and Sound released its updated list of The Greatest Films of All Time. This list, which was first presented in 1952, is prepared every ten years. For the first time, in this most recent iteration a Korean film made it into the top 100. There are no prizes for guessing … [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]
Another World We Are Making: a look at LKFF’s focus on Kim Dong-won
Almost inexplicably, when compared with previous documentary screenings, the KCC’s mini festival of Korean documentaries, spread over two weekends, was over-subscribed, with latecomers for one session needing to sit on the floor. The decision to break out the documentary strand from the main London Korean Film Festival has probably been vindicated, and the strategy of … [Read More]
An introduction to the LKFF summer documentary fortnight
I’m glad the KCC is spreading out the goodness of the London Korean Film Festival throughout the year. That first week or so in November gets far too congested with all the competing strands of the festival (with additional competition from LEAFF and the K-music festival). So to have the high-quality teasers earlier in the … [Read More]
Documentary fortnight day 4: Jung Il-woo, My Friend
The final day of the London Korean Film Festival Summer Documentary Fortnight. All events free. Jung Il-woo, My Friend (내 친구 정일우) Director: Kim Dong-won (2017, 85 mins) 19 August 2018 3:00 pm @KCCUK | Book tickets Kim Dong-won’s most recent film to date is a heartfelt tribute to Father Jung Il-woo, a North-American Jesuit … [Read More]
Documentary fortnight day 2: Repatriation, conversation + roundtable
Day 2 of the London Korean Film Festival Summer Documentary Fortnight. All events free. Repatriation (송환) Director: Kim Dong-won (2004, 148 mins) + Conversation with Kim Dong Won and Chris Berry Birkbeck Cinema | 43 Gordon Square | London WC1H 0PD Sunday 12 August 2018 1:30 pm | Book tickets In the Spring of 1992, … [Read More]
Documentary fortnight day 1: A Slice Room, Sanggyedong Olympics + 6 Day Struggle at Myeongdong Cathedral
Day 1 of the London Korean Film Festival Summer Documentary Fortnight. All events free. A Slice Room (사람이 산다) + Conversation with Song Yun-hyeok and Nam In Young Director: Song Yun-hyeok (2016, 69 min) Birkbeck Cinema | 43 Gordon Square | London WC1H 0PD Saturday 11 Aug 2018 11:30 am | Book tickets followed by a lunch break. Korean … [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]
Comfort Women: Listening To Their Voices — free screenings and discussion in Sheffield
A series of documentary screenings and discussions on the subject of Comfort Women, spread over Friday evening and Saturday. Director Byun Young-joo will be present to discuss her work – the first two documentaries of her 낮은 목소리 trilogy will be screening. Director Kim Dong-won will also be present. Korean Cinema Stories: Comfort Women — … [Read More]
ARCO 2007: a Huge Korean festival in Madrid this February
Just received from the organisers of ARCO 2007 in Madrid. Film, music, dance, literature and of course contemporary art. To call it a feast undersells it. And that’s not all: this is just the stuff they know about already. There’s some other stuff they haven’t finalised. I haven’t taken all this in yet, but I … [Read More]