Weapon of Choice - Korea’s Period Swordfighting Tales

In the pantheon of Asian action cinema, Korea occupies an unusual, but unique space. While Far East Asian film industries have crafted action genres which have proven popular at home and overseas Korea lacks its own a dominant action genre. Among others, Judo ...

New Trends in Korean indie and arthouse films

Yun Dan-bi's Moving On passed the 10,000-admission mark on August 26, a week after its release (16,154 as of September 12, 2020). Although 10,000 viewers would have hardly been enough to be considered a commercial success in any other year, considering the...

Varied Colours of Korean Cinema Take on COVID-19 for Chuseok Holidays

With a particularly wet and humid summer finally behind us, the local exhibition sector is gearing up for the Chuseok holidays, one of four major box office seasons in Korea. Films like Peninsula and DELIVER US FROM EVIL managed to salvage the summer season, a...

Always on the Move - Location Shooting in Korean Films

Moviemaking typically conjures up images of soundstages, but much of the time it also involves a lot of legwork, as productions need to move hundreds of people and truckloads of equipment from one place to the next for location shooting. On the high end of the...

PENINSULA Brings Back to Life Asia’s Moviegoing Markets Hit by COVID19

Peninsula, which is set four years after the events of Train to Busan, is breathing new life into the movie theater industry across Asia. Korean distributor Next Entertainment World (hereinafter referred to as NEW) announced on August 4 that the combined box o...

Comedies Line Up to Soothe COVID-19 Worries

As Business Warms Up, Distributors Swap Action for Laughs 2020 has been a rough year for the film business, but in Korea at least, the last few weeks have brought with them a ray of hope, as a few big-budget action tentpoles have proven that some audiences are...

Korean Fantastic Features Shine at 24th BiFan

With its myriad genre delights, festive atmosphere and close proximity to Seoul, the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) has long been a special pilgrimage for many of Korea’s most ardent film lovers. I’ve been delighted to count myself among...

The Secrets Beyond the Door - Korea’s Apartment-Set Horrors

Late last month, after months of depressed grosses, Korean cinemas came roaring back to life with the release of the local zombie horror-drama #ALIVE. The film benefitted from its attractive young cast (YOO Ah-in and PARK Shin-hye) as well as its positioning a...

Hollywood Studios Double Down on Korean Productions

Sony Becomes Latest Tinseltown Major to Wade into Korean Market In early July, major local films started to return to the Korean market but while box office has been steadily improving despite ongoing fears owing to the Covid-19 crisis, one piece of news that...

KOFIC and Korean Cinema Heading Into Cannes Virtual Film Market

Korean Film Center and Sales Agents to Hold KOFIC SUPPORTS As the Cannes Film Festival made the decision to hold an online film market online, all the usual institutions that have been introducing in Cannes the film industry of their respective country are als...