London Korean Film Festival announces 2024 programme

The 19th edition of the London Korean Film Festival (LKFF), organised by the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) and supported by the Korean Film Council, unveil its 2024 programme.

The London Korean Film Festival will take place at BFI Southbank, Ciné Lumière, and Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) from 1 November to 13 November. It will feature two strands; Cinema Now and Women’s Voices, as well as a programme from the BFI Echoes in Time: Korean Films of the Golden Age and New Cinema, a special screening of Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid: Return to the Future and will feature Park Beom-su’s Victory as the Opening Gala Film and E.oni’s Love in the Big City as the Closing Gala film.

Victory by Park Beom-su will open the festival on the 6 November at BFI Southbank with the director in attendance. In 1999, two rebellious teenagers start a cheerleading squad for their provincial high school, bringing confidence and solidarity to themselves, their misfit troupe and an entire community afflicted by narrow horizons and labour disputes. Park Beom-su’s joyously punkish and irreverently funny crowd-pleaser has infectious charm, winning wit and girl-power exuberance to spare.

The festival will close on 13 November with a screening of Love in the Big City by E.oni. Jaehee (Kim Go-eun), a bold and free-spirited woman, accidentally uncovers Heung-soo (Steve Sanghyun Noh)’s secret, leading to an unlikely relationship. Misunderstood by many, the two navigate growing pains while searching for love and self in Seoul. Love in the Big City, based on Park Sang-young’s novel longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022, is brought to life by filmmaker E.oni.The film premiered in the Special Presentations at the Toronto Film Festival 2024.

There will be a special screening of Alienoid: Return to the Future, the second part of Choi Dong-hoon’s 2022 film Alienoid, which was featured as the opening film of the LKFF 2022. Set during the Goryeo dynasty in the 1300’s in Korea, Ean (Kim Tae-ri) and Muruk (Ryu Jun-yeol) travel through time and space in an effort to obtain the divine sword, but on their quest, they are pursued by two mages, a blind swordsman, and a mysterious masked man, who all want the sword for themselves. This is all taking place while Earth is being bombarded by an alien invasion. Choi Dong-hoon’s film, with its grand scale and incredible CGI, is sure to captivate all film lovers.

Cinema Now explores the cutting edge of Korean cinema, showcasing a diverse and eclectic range of genres and moods, all at the forefront of national cinema, curated by programmer Anton Bitel. Following by Kim Se-hwi is a twisted thriller that radically shifts perspectives while exploring every variety of narcissist, creep, parasite and psycho — like Rear Window (1954) for our social media-driven world. Mother’s Kingdom by Lee Sang-hak brings to mind Bong Joon-ho’s Mother (2009), but from the son’s perspective. Both Following and Mother’s Kingdom are on a double bill at BFI Southbank on 8 November. Shot over four years, Kim Taeyang’s feature debut Mimang tracks an always transforming Seoul, with each of its three chapters dramatising a different meaning of the Korean word ‘mimang’. Writer/director Yeon Je-gwang’s The Guest is a tense, taut thriller and of horror viewership, in a cynical, metacinematic peek at unspeakable exploitation. The Noisy Mansion by Lee Lu-da follows Ahn Geo-ul (Gyeong Su-jin) right after temporarily renting a unit in the Baek-sae Apartment building. She discovers that a loud banging noise occurs from 4am every night, so she sets out to find the culprit, and in the process recruiting her neighbours to her cause. The strand closes with The Tenants by Yoon Eun-kyoung. Shindong’s (Kim Dea-gun) desperation forces him to sublet spaces in his tiny apartment. This invasion of privacy soon drives him to the brink of madness. Yoon Eun-kyoung’s dystopia, as it goes on, eventually accommodates a bleak outlook.

Women’s Voices has consistently been a platform for highlighting remarkable films by women in the Korean film industry, and this year it showcases 15 years of work by Korean female directors, programmed by curator Eunji Lee. Sisters on the Road (2008) by Boo Ji-young, where Myung-eun’s (Shin Min-a) attempt to reconnect with her estranged father drives a wedge between her and her sister (Kong Hyo-jin). Boo Ji-young’s debut film sensitively explores their evolving relationship. Digitally remastered, the film was re-released as part of the 2022 Seoul International Women’s Film Festival, celebrating restored works by female directors. A Girl at My Door (2014), directed by Jung July stars Bae Doo-na as a police officer who, after being transferred to a small seaside village, forms an unlikely bond with a local girl, played by Kim Sae-ron. Jung July’s debut feature, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, is produced by Lee Chang-dong, renowned for his cinematic masterpiece Poetry. The Truth Beneath (2015) by Lee Kyoung-mi is about a politician’s wife (Son Ye-jin) desperately searching for her missing daughter amidst a national election campaign. Lee Kyoung-mi’s 2008 debut was produced by Park Chan-wook, and she returns eight years later with this groundbreaking film co-written by Park. Concerning My

Daughter, directed by Lee Mi-rang, is an adaptation of Kim Hye-jin’s 2017 novel, which was published in English in 2022. This all-female ensemble feature highlights the intersecting struggles of women across generations as they stand up for their own and their loved ones’ rights, while tentatively redefining conventional notions of family. Sandstorm by Park Jaemin follows five wrestlers from the Kolping Women’s Ssireum Team over five years, capturing their victories, struggles, and personal growth.

FAQ by Kim Da-min, where a struggling eleven-year-old student (Park Na-eun) discovers a talking barrel of rice wine at summer camp, leading to an adventure. The screening will also feature a Q&A with the director Kim Da-min. It’s Okay! by Kim Hye-young features a high schooler (Lee Re), facing eviction, secretly moving into her dance school. The head choreographer (Jin Seo-yeon) eventually discovers her and finds a role for her in an upcoming production. It’s Okay! won the Crystal Bear for Best Film at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival’s Generation Kplus competition. The screening will also feature a Q&A with the director Kim Hye-young. Also, the two directors of both films (It’s Okay! and FAQ), Kim Hyeyoung and Kim Da-min, will be in conversation with Professor Jinhee Choi of King’s College London discussing themes emerging from works by contemporary Korean female filmmakers, as well as a discussion on the current state of the Korean film industry for female talent on 11

November at the BFI Southbank. Four shorts complete the strand: Bug by Myoung Se-jin, Hansel: Two School Skirts by Lim Ji-sun, The Lee Families by Seo  Jeong-mi, and Teleporting by Nam A-rum, Chifumi Tanzawa, Nana Noka, and Kwon Oh-yeon. Director Nam A-rum will attend the Q&A session.