In the world where corruption and scams have become a multilevel maze, it is hard not to notice that the contemporary film industry started making more films that expose the current state of the world’s society, including politics, juridical system and commercial establishments. South Korean cinema is one of those tools that bring the aforementioned…
Category: Asian Cinema
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: The Mimic Review
In 2013, Huh Jung’s feature directorial debut Hide and Seek was up against blockbusters such as The Terror Live, Flu and Snowpiercer, and no one expected that the low-budget thriller would on the domestic South Korean market become a hit alongside the three aforementioned productions. 4 years later, Huh Jung is back with The Mimic and it is as…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: V.I.P Review
Park Hoon-jung, a South Korean filmmaker, has – thanks to his distinctive and thoughtful writing style – attracted a vast number of international and domestic viewers to Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw the Devil and Ryoo Seung-wan’s The Unjust. His directing skills then allowed him to make New World, an intriguing film and one of the most gripping Korean gangster productions…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: Anarchist from Colony Review
For the past few years, Korean cinema has been swamped with various period films, in which the country’s turbulent history has been amalgamating fiction, action and frequently monotonous anti-Japanese propaganda. Although successful within the domestic market, it is rare for historical dramas to achieve an overseas 5-star rating; and one such film is Lee Joon-ik’s…
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival: A Tiger In Winter Review
The topic of a creative slowdown is popular among authors in all nooks and crannies of the creative dimension, since it is the ultimate “tiger” that prays upon the auteur world. With the tiger also being one of the strongest animal representations of Korea and its people, the layers of metaphor in the title of…
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival: ‘Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?’ Review
Riding hot on the success of the last year’s Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name, producer Genki Kawamura dished out yet another animated, fantasy high-school romance film this year – but as highly expected as it was, the remake of the 1993 live-action TV drama of the same name, Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side…
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival: Glass Garden Review
South Korean filmmaker Shin Su-won is one of those rare female Asian filmmakers that have managed to break through the male-dominated walls of the industry to not only get noticed, but acknowledged. Her debut, self-produced feature Passerby #3 managed to immediately snag both domestic and international attention – it even won the Best Asian-Middle Eastern Film…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: In Conversation with Jeon Hye-jung, the Festival Director
Jeon Hye-jung – who was once a lecturer at a prestigious university in Korea with a background in performing arts – left South Korea many years ago and settled in London. At the beginning of her UK ‘adventure’, she took a position at London Korean Cultural Centre UK, heading government projects and festivals to promote…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival Programme Announced
Here it is, here it is, hear me jump with joy! The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival has announced its programme and it looks amazing! LEAFF’s successful previous edition has led to its second year, and the festival is getting more and more attention. The 2nd LEAFF will run from 19th to 29th of…
A Taxi Driver Review
“As a journalist, you shouldn’t be in a place that’s too comfortable,” German reporter Jürgen Hinzpeter says to his colleagues as they discuss the civil unrest in Gwangju, South Korea. He craves an interesting story, a chance to uncover a hidden truth to the world so when he hears about what’s happening there, he knows he must go….
VIEW OF THE ARTS 