Kingston part of Korean Film Festival

Kim Richters

A Kingston cinema was the only Greater London host to screen a Korean film as part of the London Korean Film Festival this month.

Kingston’s Odeon cinema was the only host outside central London to show The Thieves, one of the 25 Korean films screened by the annual London Korean Film Festival.

Kiwan Park, president of the Korean society at Kingston University, said: “It’s an amazing event. I was surprised that there even is going to be a Korean Film Festival in London.”

Korea’s biggest co-production

The Thieves, which was shown in Kingston’s Odeon, is one of Korea’s biggest co-productions and most popular films at the box office. The plot sees Korea’s most infamous thieves trying to steal a 318 carat diamond from a casino in Macao.

Mr Park, who studies illustration and animation at KU, signed up to watch the film Masquerade at the West End cinema in London on November but missed out on tickets.

He said he would like to see more events of this kind in London, which promote Korean culture: “It absolutely does deliver an authentic view of Korea, since it is not only just screening the major box office hits, but also the highly rated but not so successful films as well.”

Largest Korean community

Nearby New Malden has the largest Korean community in the whole of Europe with around 20,000 Koreans living in the suburb.

A Korean film recently won the golden lion at the Venice Biennale this year and international stars such as Bruce Willis attending the film previews.