The London Korean Film Festival (LKFF) 2022 is the world’s longest-running film festival dedicated to Korean cinema and runs from 3 November to 17 November 2022 in cinemas across London.
In South Korea, queers face societal challenges and hostility in the press. Stonewall’s background document on South Korean LGBTQ+ rights is available here.
Among the many critically acclaimed films, some boundary-pushing documentaries and shorts represent the queer community at the festival.
I Am More (documentary feature) at The Rio Cinema, Sunday 13 November.
I Am More is Lee Il-ha’s third documentary film exploring life as a stage, the first as a boxing ring in A Crybaby Boxing Club, 2014, and the second as an exploration of counter-protest against pedlars of hate speech in Counters, 2017.
Once a promising ballerina student, More has given up their dream and, for the last 20 years, has been working as a drag queen artist. (The stage name More, or ‘Mo-uh (毛魚)’, means ‘hairy fish’). One day, John Cameron Mitchell is in Seoul for a run of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and he catches More’s show. Soon after, More is invited to perform in New York for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2PB
Coming To You (documentary feature) at The Rio Cinema, Wednesday 9 November.
Coming to You is a documentary shot through a supportive lens. Two mothers, faced with the unexpected coming-out of their children, become members of the ‘Queer Children’s Parents Club’.
The PINKS cooperative creates films that advocate for sexual minorities and workers’ rights in South Korea; they also investigate state violence. In 2016 activist and director Byun Gyu-ri, a PINKS member, made a promotional video for the Queer Children’s Parents Club, of which Coming to You was an outcome.
Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2PB
Dear Chaemin (short) at The Rio Cinema, Sunday 6 November.
During the lockdown, Bae Cyan sent video letters to her younger sibling in Seoul from the Hague. Juxtaposing the approaches to COVID taken by The Netherlands and South Korea, Dear Chaemen examines how country-wide and individual surveillance practices contribute to the stigmatisation of and violence against queer communities in Seoul and Asian communities in Europe. Bae Cyan creates an archive of the early stages of the pandemic, and her use of images, sound and voice is striking.
Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2PB
Transit (short) at The Garden Cinema, Friday 11 Nov.
Miho has had gender-affirming surgery, and she returns to her profession as a gaffer. While some crew members welcome and accept her, others can not hide their confusion over Miho’s identity. Miho starts to break under the strain of it all. Yet she somehow manages to develop a bond with the film’s child actress, who slowly accepts Miho for who she truly is.
The Garden Cinema, 39-41 Parker Street London WC2B 5PQ.
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