South Korean cinema has become one of the most dynamic and successful film industries. This global success peaked with Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, the first-ever non-English language film to win the Best Picture Award at the 2020 Academy Awards. If you missed Parasite, you probably saw ‘Squid Game’ on Netflix, another huge South Korean success worldwide. 

Directors including Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho and Hong Sang-soo have become familiar names to filmgoers, creating innovative and exciting 21st Century works. Films including Old Boy, The Handmaiden, Snowpiercer, Okja, The Woman Who Ran, and the recently screened In Front of Your Face received wide critical acclaim. Although these may have been the first taste of South Korean filmmaking for some viewers, they represent just the tip of the iceberg of a generation of filmmakers. However, there is much more to explore from the last two decades of the New Korean Cinema movement. 

Dr Chi-Yun Shin is leading a Film Studies season at Showroom Cinema to explore how and why New Korean Cinema has become so popular. A principal lecturer in Film Studies at Sheffield Hallam University, Chi-Yun is also the co-editor of 2005’s seminal book, ‘New Korean Cinema’. The season will explore four trends and themes prominent in South Korean films over the last two decades. Each film will feature an accompanying introduction providing context, including issues around gender & sexuality and studying how Korean films utilise and defy genre conventions. 

Having started with Bong Joon-ho’s epic monster movie, The Host, the season continues with Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry on Wednesday 26 October. Displaying a different side of filmmaking beyond some of the familiar ‘extreme’ film tendencies, Poetry provides a route into South Korea’s indie and arthouse scene. On Wednesday 9 November, July Jung’s wrenching drama A Girl at My Door moves the season on to explore the essential role of women filmmakers in New Korean Cinema. 

Fans of extreme Korean filmmaking can rejoice that the season ends on Wednesday 30 November, with an exploration of Korean zombie movies. The season finale will also return gory horror favourite Train to Busan to the big screen. 

It’s the perfect time to learn more about the roots of New Korean Cinema. Outside of the Film Studies season, new major releases, including Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave and Lee Jung-jae’s Hunt, are on the horizon. South Korean Cinema continues to go from strength to strength. 

Tickets are on sale here.

This article first featured in the Sheffield Telegraph on Thursday 13 October 2022.