3rd London East Asia Film Festival: Shoplifters Review

A gentle and emotionally intelligent look at the meaning of family in contemporary Japan. Empathetic, quiet and in-tune with human fragility, this year’s Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters explores the humane need for belonging and connection. Wondering if you can ‘choose’ your family, Hirokazu Koreeda once again perfects the art of drawing genuine heartbreak from an…

My Last Year as a Loser Review

Sound of the bicycle bell. “Excuse me! Just a little please!” On her way to work, a young woman on a small green bike – a legendary Slovenian brand Pony – is trying to penetrate through a big group of Japanese tourists that gathered on one of Ljubljana’s streets. Not so long-ago, Slovenia’s capital city –…

In Conversation with Model Joo Won-dae

Joo Won-dae, a South Korean model-turned-fashion-designer, is a force to be reckoned with. From catwalks, magazine shoots and hosting shows, to being the creative director and designer of his own clothing line Duckdive, often worn by K-Pop idols, including Jong-hyun of SHINee, Park Jin-young of GOT7, Jung-kook and Jin of BTS – Won-dae is a young man…

Troxy Welcomes Gray, Loco, Woo Won Jae and DJ Pumkin From South Korea

October 1973. The lights in New York’s Boogie Down Bronx Club faded. The floor slowly filled up with people who came to spend the next few hours partying. This time, however, the youth gathered in the room did not groove to the music of James Brown; instead, DJ Kool Herc launched his DJ set. On that particular…

Love, Simon Review

The first thing that comes to mind when gay romance is thrown on the table is… tragedy. It strikes right of the bat to set the story up, or comes whirling out of a corner in the middle, or waits there at the end – or just soaks the entire story – because hey, gay…

I Can Speak Review

We often associate Kim Hyun-seok, a South Korean film director and screenwriter, with the 2000 Park Chan-wook feature Joint Security Area, for which Kim co-wrote the script. The audience might also recognize the filmmaker for his feel-good films such as When Romance Meets Destiny (2005), Cyrano Agency (2010) or C’est si bon (2015). The newest Hyun-seok’s production, which received Best…