Australia Korean Fest 2019: Celebrating Ten Years of KOFFIA
The Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) celebrates ten years this year, powered by the Cultural Office, the festival is a wonderful initiative to showcase not only great films, but promote Korean culture as a whole. With exciting special guests...
BiFan 2019 Review: THE 12TH SUSPECT, Stagey Mystery Explores Oppressive History
This year's BiFan came to a close with a trip back to the Japanese Occupation Era in the whodunnit The 12th Suspect. Kim Sang-kyung leads a cast filled with indie cinema stalwarts in a tense single location murder mystery that...
BiFan 2019 Review: FILM ADVENTURE, Well-Performed Drama Less Exciting Than Its Title Suggests
The accomplished young actor Cho Hyun-chul returns to screens as a neurotic actor who embarks on a pensive journey peppered by unusual encounters after a row with his girlfriend in Film Adventure, the second feature film by Lee Sang-deok, following...
BiFan 2019 Review: ALL ABOUT MY RIVAL IN LOVE, Style and Kooky Lead Jazz Up Familiar Story
Five years after bursting onto to the scene with his kinetic debut Alice in Earnestland, a feature graduation project from the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) which earned the top Korean film prize at the Jeonju International Film Festival...
BiFan 2019: 10 Films You Should Check Out at the 23rd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Asia's top genre celebration is almost upon us, and as we pack our bags for the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan), we've prepared a few titles to look out for in this year's vast program. Between our recent festival...
BiFan 2019: 10 Films to get Excited for at the 23rd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Our annual pilgrimage to the soju-soaked suburbs of South Korea is just days away, with the 23rd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival getting underway this Thursday. The event promisies 11 days of the finest indie genre offerings from around the...
Review: PARASITE Burrows in Deep, but You Won't Want it Out
For every Host, there must be a Parasite. Since his debut Barking Dogs Never Bite 19 years ago, Bong Joon-ho's works have always resisted easy classification. Within stories that stray from one genre to the next, surprising things tend to...
BiFan 2019: THE GASOLINE THIEVES to Open Jam-Packed, SciFi-Themed 23rd Edition
We're now just four weeks away from the crown jewel on the calendar for genre film fans in Asia, as the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) has just unveiled the program for its 23rd edition. The main theme will...
Cannes 2019 Review: THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL, Ma Dong-seok Pummels His Way through Rip-Roaring Korean Thriller
The gangster drama and serial killer thriller join hands and chow down on steroids in the by-the-numbers but thoroughly enjoyable and gleefully violent Cannes midnight selection The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil. Burly Korean leading man and future MCU actor...
Explore the Riches of Early Korean Cinema at BFI Southbank in February
Thanks to renowned films, such as Oldboy and Train to Busan, as well as major names, such as Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook courting the attention of everyone from Netflix to the BBC, Korean films have grown from a niche...
Screen Anarchy's Favorite Films of 2018
Here's our favorite films of 2018, as voted on by more than 20 of our contributing writers, who collectively picked 114 films as their favorites. 1. Roma 2. The Favourite 3 (tie). BlacKkKlansman / You Were Never Really Here 5....
Review: SWING KIDS, Tap Dancing Miracle Will Keep You on Your Feet Long after the Credits Roll
The Korean War tap dancing musical drama you never knew you needed, Swing Kids is a Christmas miracle from one of Korean cinema's most vibrant directors. After works such as Scandal Makers and Sunny, Kang Hyoung-chul has outdone himself with...
Review: DOORLOCK, Tense Korean SLEEP TIGHT Remake, Goes the Distance
A slow year for Korean thrillers gets a late shot in the arm with Doorlock, director Lee Kwon's tense remake of Jaume Balagueró's Spanish film Sleep Tight. Completely reworking the original narrative, actress Kong Hyo-jin anchors a story rooted in...
Review: DEFAULT, Financial Thriller Overdraws Its Trump Card
Following a promising debut, Split director Choi Kook-hee steps up to the big league with the star-driven period financial thriller Default, a three-strand narrative detailing the calamitous week around Korea's IMF Crisis in 1997, featuring local leading lights Kim Hye-soo...
Review: THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL, Park Chan-wook's Engrossing TV Debut
A new Park Chan-wook project is always something to get very excited about, but there was extra reason to get worked up last year when it was announced that the Korean master filmmaker was making his first foray into television,...
Review: RAMPANT Fails to Catch On
The actor-director team behind last year's hit spy action-comedy Confidential Assignment returns with their latest tentpole Rampant, an action-horror that looks to put a period twist on Yeon Sang-ho's runaway 2016 zombie hit Train to Busan. Hyun Bin versus the...
3rd Maskoon Fantastic Fest Brings Genre Cinema to Lebanon
The Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival, the first event to bring the world's best genre cinema to Lebanon, kicked off its 3rd edition this week. Opening this year's fest was the stellar Danish chamber thriller The Guilty, which our Managing Editor...
London Korean Film Festival Kicks Off Stuffed 13th Edition Tonight!
The London Korean Film Festival is back for its 13th edition, with another stellar lineup from the East Asian filmmaking powerhouse. Kicking off a varied programme featuring close to 40 features and several more shorts tonight at London's Picturehouse Central...
Review: BURNING, a Thriller Like No Other
Eight years after his phenomenal drama Poetry, Lee Chang-dong made a long-awaited return to the Cannes competition with his sixth film Burning, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story 'Barn Burning'. Dense with symbolism, this tour de force burrows towards...
Busan 2018 Review: HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD Soars As It Signals Major New Talent
Exploring modern themes and history through the eyes of a young girl, Kim Bora's sensational debut House of Hummingbird is the Korean indie drama par excellence. A subtle exploration of local family and societal pressures crafted in a way that...
