The London Korean Film Festival2 min read
Reading Time: 2 minutesKorean film has always been an important player on the World cinema scene with many of the most acclaimed and successful directors and films coming from the country. Over the last ten years the industry has exploded with films from directors, Park Chan-wook (Oldboy), Bong Joon-ho (The Host) and Kim Jee-woon (I Saw The Devil) finding success in America and Europe with their gritty, box office films while Hong Sang-soo and Kim Ki-duk have found acclaim in Europe and the festival circuit for their soulful stories.
Over the last six years the London Korean Film Festival along with the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) has looked to capitalise on this new found interest to promote Korean culture. Starting in 2006 with a handful of free film screenings the festival now boost over thirty film screenings over four cities across the UK every November. The festival looks to entertain and inform with numerous events designed to educate all those interested in Korean cinema, partnering up with institutes such as the National Film and Television School (NFTS) to host film director masterclasses. Also we involve various film critics and lecturers to host film forums and talks to give contextual reference to the Korean film industry.
Each year the festival looks to spotlight particular areas and people within the film industry with this year looking at the special relationship between North & South Korea and a retrospective of the ‘Action Kid’ Ryoo Seung-wan. To highlight our North & South divide the festival will be screening a variety of films showing how different filmmakers handle this subject whether its showing its origin in the war epic The Front Line or the attitude towards North Korean refugees in Dance Town or human trafficking in Poognsan.
The Ryoo Seung-wan retrospective will screen his complete filmography including the latest release, The Unjust as our Closing Gala with the director in attendance. As well as these the festival will open with one of the biggest box office films, War of The Arrow. The festival is not all about films aimed at adults as we look to screen films for everyone with family friendly events including Leafie A Hen Into The Wild.
