5 diverse Korean movies screened at Glasgow Film Festival

A scene from "Voice of Silence" / Courtesy of Acemaker Movieworks

By Park Han-sol

Five Korean films were invited to this year's Glasgow Film Festival in Scotland, one of the leading annual cinematic events, as part of its “Country Focus ― South Korea” program.

Held from Feb. 24 to March 7, the festival screened Woo Min-ho's political thriller, “The Man Standing Next,” Hong Eui-jeong's debut feature, “Voice of Silence,” Choi Jae-hoon's period action film, “The Swordsman,” Shim Chan-yang's music drama, “Da Capo,” and Lim Jung-eun's black-and-white drama, “Our Midnight.”

“Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning triumph, Parasite, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the glories of South Korean cinema,” the festival organizers said on their website, introducing the Country Focus program. “The selection captures the diversity and range of work from a country whose films deserve to be much better known and appreciated. Jeulgyeo (Enjoy)!”

Meanwhile, the opening film of the 17th Glasgow Film Festival was Lee Isaac Chung's Golden Globe-winning “Minari,” as part of its online UK premiere. Earning five stars as an “uncontrived, authentic” cinematic piece in a BBC review, the film is set to hit theaters in the UK and Ireland, March 19.

A scene from "Minari" / Courtesy of Pancinema

The festival also hosted an event last Friday in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Centre UK, inviting directors Woo (“The Man Standing Next”) and Hong (“Voice of Silence”) as speakers to share the stories behind their productions for local film industry personnel.

Mentioning the dynamic changes taking place within the Korean film industry after the success of “Parasite,” Woo expressed hope for its future, stating, “After the film's feat achieved at the Academy Awards last year, I'm looking forward to seeing more works, like Hong's 'Voice of Silence,' that are much more original, fresh and challenging.”

Hong added, “I was initially experiencing difficulties with my film being an ambiguous piece in terms of its genre, but I realized that there is less and less need to convince others of the movie simply based on such classifications.”