The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale Review

Train to Busan (2016) established that there is both room and potential for zombie flicks in Korean cinema, and there has been a flood of undead-themed films and TV series in the past few years, with their makers hell-bent on achieving the same success as Yeon Sang-ho‘s action thriller. Some of the K-zombie projects, surprisingly,…

21st Udine Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Gong Hyo-jin

The entire theatre, full to the brink with fans of Asian cinema, buzzed, then started applauding with gusto as South Korean actress Gong Hyo-jin took her seat for the Udine Far East Film Festival screening of the thriller Door Lock. After the screening, the applause only got louder, reaffirming that Gong Hyo-jin is not only…

In Conversation with Park Hong-min, director of ‘Alone’

After his attention-pulling debut A Fish (2011), South Korean film director Park Hong-min returned in 2015 with his second feature Alone that wowed audiences both in Korea and abroad, winning several awards and making rounds on several global film festivals – it is no wonder that the director got invited as a guest to this year’s…

The 1st London East Asia Film Festival: The World of Us

As we grow up and get busy pretending that we are fully-fledged adults, we sometimes forget the trials and losses and gains that helped us grow and shaped us while we were growing up. Childhood is the era in one’s life when friends have as much influence as family – or even more; and it…

The 21st Busan International Film Festival: The Last Princess

‘Tis the year for Japanese occupation era films in South Korean Cinema, it would seem – there has been a flood of them, with the most noticeable – The Age of Shadows (2016, Kim Jee-woon) – even selected as South Korea’s candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film of the 2017 Academy Awards. The Last Princess falls into this…

The 8th London Korean Film Festival: Hope (Wish)

How much love, understanding and commitment is needed for parents to overcome a horrendous incident that happens to their child? Can the family stick together against all odds? Hope (Wish), directed by Lee Joon-ik, is set in a rural South Korean town and focuses on the story of the 8 year old girl, So-won (Lee…