Ko-pick: Introducing Korea’s Poster Designer Studios

Film posters have dated back to the early days of cinema giving audiences a glimpse of a title. They have been crucial in enticing audiences into the multiplexes to watch films and while today’s media ecosystem means that advertising is different to what it wa...

Ko-pick: Korean Queer Cinema

Over recent years there has been an increasing number of films dealing with the LGBTQIA+ community, especially in the independent industry with titles such as Han Ji-won’s animation TheSummer (2023), Byun Gyuri’s documentary Coming to You (2021) and Han Jay’s ...

Ko-pick: Korea’s Event Cinema

The recent success of the concert film, Lim Young Woong| Im Hero The Stadium has put the spotlight again on event films. Accumulating more than 350,000 admissions, it is now the most successful event title in Korean box office history. It’s all the more impres...

Ko-pick: Korean Films Based on Literature

Much of the news cycle in Korea over the past two weeks has been dominated by Han Kang winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. She became the first South Korean writer and first female Asian writer to win the award making it historic. She is renowned for award-...

Ko-pick: The Enduring Duo: Director Hur Jin-ho & Composer Cho Sungwoo

Many of Korea’s auteurs have formed long lasting collaborations with music composers. Park Chan-wook frequently works with Cho Young-wuk having partnered together on most of his films since JSA (2000). Kim Jee-woon has teamed up with Mowg on all his projects s...

Ko-pick: Cho Jung-Seok Watchlist

One of the Korean actors to have undoubtedly made an impact this year is Jo Jung-suk. He has featured in two films so far in 2024: Pilot and Land of Happiness, both of which have been warmly received by critics and audiences. The former was the most popular fi...

Ko-pick: Kim Go-eun Watchlist

One of the Korean performers of the first half of 2024 to have made a palpable impact in cinemas has undoubtedly been Kim Go-eun who has continued to demonstrate her wide range and an ability to draw in audiences. This was demonstrated in Jang Jae-hyun’s Exhum...

Ko-pick: Korea’s leading Action Choreographers

In late August the Indian film Kill (2023) went on release in Korea, which has garnered attention for its action sequences. Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2023 where it was the runner-up in the People’s Choice Awar...

Ko-pick: Family-friendly Chuseok Films

Korea’s thanksgiving known as Chuseok is one of the biggest holidays of the year. Taking place over three days at the end of the summer or the beginning of Autumn (depending on the lunar calendar), it’s a major festival that sees families coming together to ce...

Ko-pick: Catching Criminals in Korean Detective Films

The much-anticipated Veteran (2014) sequel I, The Executioner by Ryoo Seung-wan has gone on release in time for the Chuseok (Thanksgiving) holidays in Korea, one of the biggest holiday seasons of the year with families across the country coming together. It is...