12th London Korean Film Festival 2017 Reveals Its Full Programme Including UK And International Premieres Along With Special Guests Visiting.

The most awaited film festival focusing solely on South Korean films is back with its 12th Edition. The London Korean Film Festival will run from 26th October to 19th November, starting from London (where it will end on 8th November) and then moving on to Glasgow, Nottingham, Belfast and Manchester. The festival will kick off with the UK Premiere of Director Hong Sangsoo‘s Cannes acclaimed, The Day After(2017) as part of the Opening Gala with Cinematographer Kim Hyung-Ku in attendance. 12th London Korean Film Festival 2017 Reveals Its Full Programme

The Day After

The Closing Gala will present the UK Premiere of an emerging Director Kim Dae-hwan‘s Indie relationship hit from Locarno, The First Lap (2017), which sees a directionless unmarried couple wade through family encounters and a potential pregnancy, in a fresh verité style that is both funny and heart warming. The Director would be in attendance and will take part in the Q & A after the screening of the film.

The First Lap

The film festival will screen another film screened at the Cannes Film Festival this year titled as The Merciless(2017), the latest feature from Byun Sung-hyun, a Tarantino-esque moody neo-noir thriller following double-crossing gangsters in the Special Focus: Korean Noir, Illuminating the Dark Side of Society section. Other films to be screened include New World(2013), Coin Locker Girl(2015) and A Dirty Carnival(2006) among others which would solely be focused on the gangster genre.

The Merciless

The Women’s Voices section will highlight the female film makers with the screening of Candle Wave Feminists (2017) followed by a Q&A with Director Kangyu Garam and Jamsil(2016) the directorial debut of director/writer Lee Wanmin also followed by a Q&A. Three short films My Turn, Mild Fever and Night Working will also be screened.

Jamsil

Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns will introduce the UK to Korea’s Indie Firepower, a selection of films from the country’s most intriguing independent filmmakers, including a special focus welcoming Artist filmmaker Jung Yoon-suk, whose films have focussed on Korean social and political life. The Home of Stars (2010) is a sardonic cage of modern Korean history and Non Fiction Diary (2013) deals with Korea’s first serial murder case in the 1990s. His latest, Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno (2017) also screens at the BFI LFF (6 and 7 October), embracing nihilism, protest, politics and rebellion and a strong sense of humour following a young Korean, grindcore punk band. Also on show are two of his shorts, The White House in My Country (2006) and Ho Chi Minh (2007). This strand celebrates two other off beat indies with Merry Christmas Mr. Mo (2016), an unusual tragi-comedy shot in black & white centered on a relationship between an ageing father (played by veteran actor Gi Ju-bong) and his semi-estranged son, and A Confession Expecting a Rejection (2017) a daring and witty film that follows on and off screen characters as they discuss subjects ranging from failed relationships to dodgy film courses.

Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno

 Dr. Mark Morris returns this year with another finely curated selection of Classics Revisited, focussing on 1980’s veteran director Bae Chang-Ho. The films in focus will be People in the Slum (1982), Whale Hunting (1984) and The Dream (1990) which will each be followed with a Q&A session.

Whale Hunting

Latest films that are making waves currently will be screened in the Cinema Now section, which include the European Premiere of In Between Seasons (2016), Master (2016) starring today’s biggest actors Lee Byung-hun, Gang Dong-won and Kim Woo-bin.  Come, Together (2017), Warriors of the Dawn (2017), The Mimic and Crime City (2017).

 Crime City

The festival will also show contemporary Korean Documentaries dealing with social issues, LGBTQ and worker rights. Animations will be screened for the younger audience and Short Films will be screened showcasing works from upcoming film makers.

Images provided by London Korean Film Festival Press

12th London Korean Film Festival 2017 Reveals Its Full Programme.12th London Korean Film Festival 2017 Reveals Its Full Programme.