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Festival coverage

London Korean Film Festival

4 November – 19 November 2021

Seo Yea-ji in Recalled
Seo Yea-ji in Recalled

Back in the city itself after running a primarily online edition last year, the London Korean Film Festival will open with Ryoo Seung-wan's true life thriller Escape From Mogadishu. It features a bumper line-up with some of the best Korean films of the past year alongside skilfully restored classics like Kim Ki-young's Woman Of Fire, with a special section on the work of female directors plus an impressive selection of shorts.

The festival runs from 4 to 19 November.

Other years (10)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Sewing Sisters
    Review preview for Sewing Sisters

    Kim and Lee layer different accounts to build up a picture of key events as seen from multiple angles.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A documentary about how women got together to assert their rights after facing exploitation in the burgeoning Korean garment industry and at the sewing factories of Pyeonghwa Market in Seoul.
  • Sister J
    Review preview for Sister J

    An intimate look at a personality forged by struggle and by the discovery of real creative talent.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A documentary about factory workers who have found ways to express their frustration through creativity after being made redundant.
  • Aloners
    Review preview for Aloners

    In one of the most complex and intriguing performances of 2021, Gong keeps us guessing about what Jin-na is really thinking and feeling.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Reflection on loneliness through the life of a solitary woman.
  • Climbing
    Review preview for Climbing

    This is animation used for a purpose, and likewise the film’s genre elements, which enable it to get right to the core of what it means to find oneself sharing one’s flesh, one’s emotions, one’s life chances with somebody else.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A climber who has recently miscarried after a car accident is determined not to miss out on the world championships, but she begins to receive text messages from what is apparently another, still pregnant version of herself.
  • Made On The Rooftop
    Review preview for Made On The Rooftop

    Director Kim-Jho Gwang-soo has set out to normalise gay life in a country where there is still a lot of prejudice, but he’s smart enough not to do so by presenting us with saints.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    After his boyfriend leaves him, a young man moves in with his best friend and they spend the summer hanging out on the rooftop.
  • Canola
    Review preview for Canola

    For a film based around a distressing situation, Canola incorporates a lot of comedy, poking fun at stereotypes of islanders and city folks and drawing on its solid supporting cast for character-based humour.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Many years after a little girl's disappearance, a teenager arrives at her grandmother's home,, claiming to be her, but something doesn't feel right.
  • Escape From Mogadishu
    Review preview for Escape From Mogadishu

    There’s some heavyweight acting talent in this film but nobody hogs the limelight and the cast works well as an ensemble.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A dramatisation of events in 1990 when diplomats in the South Korean embassy found themselves trapped when war broke out in the Somali capital.
  • The Housemaid
    Review preview for The Housemaid

    Steamy, bold entertainment with a dark sense of humour and a lush setting.

    Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
    Remake of the 1960 classic about a man's affair with the family's servant.