The London Korean Film Festival (LKFF) is the country’s leading showcase of Korean cinema, and with over 60 titles on offer annually; it’s one of the largest festivals dedicated to a national cinema in the world. For last year’s 12th edition, the festival hosted an in-depth Special Focus on ‘Korean Noir’ which included films from the 1960s up until the present day.
The term "Film Noir" was originally used by critics to describe Hollywood movies from the 1940s and '50s. Subsequently, ‘noirness’ seems to have been recognised in films produced in radically different cultural backgrounds and histories with the films of 21st century South Korea providing a particularly strong example.
The LKFF’s finely curated programme aimed to explore how Korea’s own brand of noir cinema might be understood as a distinct type of film which pays homage to the classic canon of 'Film Noir' whilst retaining its own unique style.
From this selection, 5 notable titles will be presented here in Edinburgh as part of the Korea/UK season, providing audiences with the chance to explore the underbelly of Korean society through cinema’s darkest genre.
The Korean Noir season will run every Tuesday from 13 March - 10 April.