“Parasite” is a household name for Korean films, but for many people our knowledge of Korean films is limited. The Florence Korea Film Fest provides the opportunity to broaden horizons as it returns for its 18th edition.
Initially scheduled for March and later postponed to May, the film festival is set to be held from September 23rd to the 30th at Cinema La Compagnia and online. Films that are to be shown will have both English and Italian subtitles.
Whilst film festivals take place in Paris, New York, London, Sydney and elsewhere, Florence was the first dedicated to Korean cinema.
The festival has a variety of film sections including:
- Korean Horizons, dedicated to contemporary film stars.
- Independent Korea, for young and talented directors outside of large-scale distribution.
- Corto Corti, specifically for short films.
- K-History, with a particular focus on South Korea during the period of Japanese occupation.
- K-Documentary, which looks at nature and documentaries about North Korea directed by South Korean directors.
At the centre of this festival is Cho Jin-woong, a well known actor who’s charted up over 50 performances across cinema and television. Five films will be screened in celebration of his career, varying from prison drama Man of Will by Lee Won-tae (2017), to comedy Man of Man by Yong-Soo (2019).
Parasite will be shown on September 30, preceded by a video-greeting from the Oscar winning director. Finally, to close the festival Bring Me Home will be screened.
With such a varied and intriguing line-up, it’ll be impossible to leave your seat.
For more check out what’s happening at http://www.koreafilmfest.com/
Happy watching!
