After the success of Parasite, BFI held the first major UK public screening of Snowpiercer on 1 March. Here is the BFI’s video of the Q+A that followed the screening. [Read More]
Tag: Movie Q&As
Parasite: a non-review
What can one say about a movie that has won Best Picture at Cannes and the Oscars, that has won best screenplay at the Oscars and BAFTAs, best edited drama feature at the Eddies, and best ensemble performance at the Screen Actors Guild? A movie that has been seen more widely in this country, and … [Read More]
Bong Joon-ho’s BAFTA talk has now been uploaded
Bong Joon-ho’s BAFTA lecture at the Curzon Mayfair on 12 December 2019 has now been uploaded to the BAFTA Guru Youtube channel. The talk was part of a lecture series that “exists to celebrate screenwriters’ authorial contribution to film and gives esteemed writers a platform to share highlights and insights from their careers with an … [Read More]
Review roundup: Korean films at the 2019 BFI London filmfest
I was particularly looking forward to the Korean screenings in the London Film Festival this year. Both LEAFF and LKFF in prior years have been championing the talent among Korea’s female directors and the trend has now spread to the BFI programme: of this year’s BFI festival, four out of the five Korean movies were … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Dark Figure of Crime
In a standard police procedural about a serial killer, a detective – maybe a bit of a loner, often with a drink problem – goes from crime scene to crime scene, from victim to victim, trying to fit together the pieces of the jigsaw that will eventually lead to the murderer, before the next crime … [Read More]
Recording: Screen talk with Lee Chang-dong at BFI London Film Festival 2018
In case like me you couldn’t get tickets to the Screen Talk with Lee Chang-dong as part of the BFI London Film Festival, here’s the recording on the BFI YouTube channel. The interview took place on 20 October 2018, the day of an anti-Brexit demonstration in London – which is mentioned more than once in … [Read More]
Bae Chang-ho retrospective: the highlight of LKFF 2017
For me, the highlight of this year’s London Korean Film Festival was the brief retrospective of some of Bae Chang-ho’s early output. I’ve had a soft spot for Director Bae’s work for over 15 years now: My Heart was one of the first Korean movies I saw, back in the London Korean Film Festival in 2001. … [Read More]
Festival report: Park Hong-min Q+A after the screening of “A Fish”
Park Hong-Min was in London yesterday for a 3-D showing of his first film A Fish (2011). He gave a short Q-and-A after the screening. Transcribed by Robert Cottingham. Tony Rayns: I’ll get things going. I take it this film is not based on your own experience? Park Hong-min: Yes, it’s definitely not based on … [Read More]
Park Chan-wook talks about Handmaiden, octopuses and more
I’ve now lost count of the number of times that Park Chan-wook has come to London. But it’s always nice to see him, especially when there’s his latest film to enjoy as part of a retrospective of his work at the London East Asia Film Festival. We got to see the amazing Handmaiden at the BFI … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Ode to My Father
The time is the present. Yoon Deok-su, a grandfather living in Busan but born in South Hamgyong province in North Korea, looks back at his life of hardship which has coincided exactly with the life of the Republic of Korea. Surrounded by his grandchildren, he has managed to raise his family from nothing to relative prosperity, … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Ryoo Seung-wan’s Veteran
It was the first screening in the the trial “0th” iteration of the London East Asia Film Festival, but this really didn’t feel like a new film festival – more a continuation of past ones. We were opening in a venue that felt familiar, a lot of the faces front of house and on stage … [Read More]
Kwak Kyung-taek quizzed at the first LKFF on Typhoon, filming in Russia and more
Kwak Kyung-taek is July’s featured director at the KCC. This gives us the opportunity to resurrect from the archives Saharial’s transcription of a Q&A with the director following the UK premiere of his movie Typhoon, at the first of the KCCUK’s London Korean Film Festivals back in September 2006. Q: What drew you to the … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 11: a visit to Studio MWP
Daehakro, Seoul, Monday 8 June. This year’s trip to Korea had been full of pleasant surprises: people I had not expected to meet, things I had not been expecting to see. But the most pleasant surprise of all had been an invitation to visit Studio Meditation with a Pencil, creators of my favourite Korean animated … [Read More]
LKFF 2014: the conversations
The London Korean Film Festival is not just about getting acquainted with the latest in Korean movies. It is also an opportunity to meet some of the people behind those movies – actors, directors and producers. Opportunities for engaging with these film professionals vary: for an ever-growing group of aficionados there is the offer of round-table … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Hwajang / Revivre
Well, I was right. Ahn Sung-ki confessed in the Q+A which followed the screening of Hwajang that one of his most difficult tasks in portraying Oh Sang-moo, a senior executive in a cosmetics company, was to project certain aspects of being old – of being blocked inside because of the swollen prostate, of being more … [Read More]
Cho Young-wuk on waltzes, playgrounds and working with Park Chan-wook
So much has changed over the past few years. Nearly 10 years ago Asia House organised the London premiere screening of Lady Vengeance including a Q&A with the director, Park Chan-wook. It was hard not to squirm in embarrassment at the shallowness of some of the questions from the audience, and the moderator could have … [Read More]