The 19th edition of the London Korean Film Festival (LKFF), organized by the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) with the support of the Korean Film Council, proudly presents its 2024 programme. The festival will run from November 1 to November 13 at venues including BFI Southbank, Ciné Lumière, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).

This year’s LKFF offers two main strands – Cinema Now and Women’s Voices – alongside a special programme from BFI Echoes in Time: Korean Films of the Golden Age and New Cinema. Notable highlights include the Opening Gala screening of Park Beom-su’s Victory and the Closing Gala of E.oni’s Love in the Big City. Additionally, there will be a special screening of Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid: Return to the Future.

As mentioned earlier, Park Beom-su’s Victory will kick off the festival on November 6th at BFI Southbank, with the director attending. Set in 1999, the film follows two rebellious teenagers who form a cheerleading squad, boosting the spirits of their misfit troupe and their struggling community. With its charm and rebellious energy, Victory is a great crowd-pleaser filled with girl-power exuberance.

The festival will conclude on November 13 with a screening of Love in the Big City by E.oni. Based on Park Sang-young’s novel, which was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022, the film stars Kim Go-eun as Jae-hee, a free-spirited woman who uncovers a secret about Heung-soo (Steve Sanghyun Noh). The two try to deal with the complexities of love and self-discovery in Seoul, making for a subtle exploration of relationships. Love in the Big City premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival in the Special Presentations section.

Read more – Interview with Choi Dong-hoon

A special screening of Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid: Return to the Future – the second part of his 2022 film Alienoid – will take viewers on a thrilling adventure through time and space. Set in Korea’s Goryeo dynasty of the 1300s, the film follows a quest for a divine sword amidst an alien invasion.

Cinema Now, curated by Anton Bitel, presents the forefront of contemporary Korean cinema, featuring a wide variety of genres. Among the selections is Kim Se-hwi’s Following, a twisted thriller exploring narcissism and voyeurism in the age of social media. Lee Sang-hak’s Mother’s Kingdom offers a son’s perspective in a story reminding of Bong Joon-ho’s Mother (2009). Kim Tae-yang’s debut Mimang spans four years in Seoul, dramatising various meanings of the Korean word ‘mimang.’ Yeon Je-gwang’s The Guest blends horror with a meta-cinematic lens, while Lee Lu-da’s The Noisy Mansion follows a woman investigating mysterious nighttime noises in her apartment building. The strand closes with Yoon Eun-kyoung’s dystopian thriller The Tenants.

Read more – Interview with Yeon Je-gwang

Women’s Voices, curated by Eunji Lee, celebrates 15 years of Korean female filmmakers. Highlights include Boo Ji-young’s Sisters on the Road (2008), Jung July’s A Girl at My Door (2014), and Lee Kyoung-mi’s The Truth Beneath (2015). The programme also features Lee Mi-rang’s adaptation of Kim Hye-jin’s novel Concerning My Daughter, and Park Jae-min’s documentary Sandstorm, which follows the lives of five female wrestlers over five years. Two directors, Kim Da-min and Kim Hye-young, will participate in a discussion on emerging themes in contemporary Korean cinema, moderated by Professor Jinhee Choi from King’s College London.

The BFI Southbank programme Echoes in Time: Korean Films of the Golden Age and New Cinema offers a major season of screenings from October to December, featuring classics like Aimless Bullet (Yu Hyun-mok, 1961), Joint Security Area (Park Chan-wook, 2000), and Save the Green Planet! (Jang Joon-hwan, 2003). Presented in collaboration with the Korean Film Archive (KOFA) for its 50th anniversary, the season includes 12 digital restorations and 5 remastered titles, offering audiences a rare opportunity to experience these seminal films in the UK.

All talent appearances: 

Park Beom-su (Opening Gala Film Director) 

E.oni (Closing Gala Film Director) 

Kim Hye-young (It’s Okay! Director – Women’s Voices strand) 

Kim Da-min (FAQ director – Women’s Voices strand) 

Jang Joon-hwan (Save the Green Planet! Director) 

With a diverse and exciting lineup, the 19th edition of the LKFF will celebrate Korean cinema, past and present.

Written by Maggie Gogler

_{View of the Arts is an online publication that chiefly deals with films, music, and art, with an emphasis on the Asian entertainment industry. We are hoping our audience will grow with us as we begin to explore new platforms such as K-pop / K-music, and Asian music in general, and continue to dive into the talented and ever-growing scene of film, music, and arts, worldwide.}