London Korean Film Festival Celebrates 20th Year With New Korean Films

Yeon Woo-jin stars in ‘Frosted Window,’ which opens the London Korean Film Festival.

London Korean Film Festival

The London Korean Film Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary this year by showing a slate of diverse Korean films. The festival opens with the world premiere of director Kim Jong-kwan’s Frosted Window and closes with director Woo Min-ho’s Harbin. Korean filmmaking will be honored via several of the festival’s signature programs — Cinema Now, Women’s Voices and a Special Screening. In collaboration with the Korean Film Archive, the festival will also present Dramas of Resistance, a special program to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Korea’s Liberation.

“As we celebrate the London Korean Film Festival, I am reminded of a phrase that guides my reflections on Korean aesthetics: all that is called is love,” said Seunghye Sun, director of the Korean Cultural Centre, which organized the festival. “At its heart, cinema embodies this truth by offering us not only stories but a deeper understanding of the wide spectrum of the human condition. From tender lyricism to profound historical narratives, Korean film reveals how love, in its many forms, binds us to one another and to the world we share.”

The festival opens with the world premiere of Frosted Window (2025), an anthology film that portrays the human condition via three episodes, each set in a different season, in the Seochon neighbourhood of Seoul’s Jongno District. Frosted Window is directed by Kim Jong-kwan (Come, Closer (2010), The Table (2016) and Shades of the Heart (2021)) and serves as a Rohmer-esque love letter to Seochon. Director Kim Jong-kwan and actor Yeon Woo-jin will join the festival for a special post-screening Q&A.

The festival’s closing film is Harbin (2024) directed by Woo Min-ho (Inside Men). Harbin is a historical drama about Korean Independence fighter, Ahn Jung-geun, lensed by Parasite cinematographer Hong Kyeong-pyo and scored by longtime Park Chan-wook collaborator, Cho Young-wuk. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and stars Hyun Bin, Park Jeong-min, Jo Woo-jin and Jeon Yeo-been.

The festival will also screen Hi-Five (2025), a light-hearted super-hero comedy by Kang Hyoung-chul, the creator of numerous blockbusters including Sunny (2011) and Scandal Makers (2008).

Cinema Now features new releases that showcase the innovation of Korea’s contemporary filmmaking. Director Shin Jea-min’s Commission (2024) is a sophisticated psychodrama that reimagines the creative process of the booming webtoon industry as the framework for a gripping serial killer thriller. Jang Man-min’s debut feature Silver Apricot (2024) centres on a vampire webtoon creator who returns to her seaside hometown of Donghae City, where she must confront the fraught dynamics of her estranged family.

Namkoong Sun’s Time to Be Strong (2024) follows three veteran k-pop idols embarking on a belated “school trip” to Jeju Island in the hope of recovering and rediscovering their lost youth. The Informant (2024), directed by Kim Seok, is an action comedy that follows the chaotic duo of an inept cop and an ace informant as they navigate a swamp of deceit and distrust, featuring an astounding lead performance by Squid Game actor Heo Sung-tae.

The Land of Morning Calm (2024) begins with the disappearance of a young local fisherman, sending ripples through a bleak, small seaside town. Park Ri-woong’s melancholic portrait garnered three awards at the 29th Busan International Film Festival.

Park Joon-ho’s 3670 (2025), winner of four awards at the 26th Jeonju International Film Festival, tracks a defector exploring his identity and sexuality in Seoul.

Somebody (2025), starring k-pop star Kwon Yu-ri (Girls’ Generation), is a psychological thriller that dives into the dark side of a convoluted mother-daughter relationship.

Women’s Voices, curated by programmer Son Si-nae from the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival, champions up-and-coming independent filmmakers. Red Nails (2025) by Hwang Seul-gi presents a young woman weighed down by debt and the arrival of her estranged mother, who suffers from dementia. They struggle to redefine what family means in the face of hardship.

In Bang Mi-ri’s SAVE (2025), just a day before a high schooler is set to leave her orphanage, a stranger who claims to have saved her life suddenly reappears asking for help. What begins with suspicion unfolds into an unexpected bond, as the film explores the unconventional ways women carve out survival in a cruel world.

The Meryl Streep Project (2024) documents director Park Hyo-sun’s journey to meet her hero, Meryl Streep, who inspires her to participate in feminist activism in Korea. The film captures important discussions around the political awakening among young Korean women.

Dramas of Resistance: The 80th Anniversary of Liberation, curated by programmer Park Se-ho, highlights films that honor the spirit of strength and resilience in the movement. The program features two films from the ‘Manchurian western’ genre, which blends elements of the ‘spaghetti western’ to explore stories set in Manchuria during the colonial era. Auteur Lee Man-hee’s Break Up the Chain (1971), is an epic about three men who chase after a Buddha statue that not only holds monetary value but also bears a list of operatives working for the resistance movement; and Kim Jee-woon’s The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008), which revisits the trio-and-treasure-hunt trope with renowned actors Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung.

The program also includes two biopics that foreground prominent figures in Korean liberation: Youn JK’s Hero (2022), a screen adaptation of the eponymous musical that chronicles the life of revolutionary Ahn Jung-geun, and Lee Joon-ik’s Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet (2016), which depicts the story of celebrated poet Yoon Dong-ju.

Also based on a real-life story, Kim Hyun-seok’s YMCA Baseball Team (2002) offers a comedic interpretation of the legendary Hwangseong YMCA baseball team—the first baseball team in Korea.

The London Korean Film Festival takes place from Nov. 5 to 18 at BFI Southbank, Ciné Lumière, and ICA London. The festival is organized by the Korean Cultural Centre and supported by the Korean Film Council.