The BFI Southbank programme for late October and November 2024 begins with Echoes in Time: Korean Films of the Golden Age and New Cinema, a major new season running from 28 October to 31 December. Programmed by Young Jin Eric Choi and Goran Topalovic, Echoes in Time will focus on two groundbreaking periods in the Korean cinema timeline, when huge technical, stylistic and thematic innovations took place: the golden age of the 1960s and the New Korean Cinema movement (1996 to 2003).
Both periods gave birth to seminal works across a wide range of genres, successfully combining genre thrills with arthouse sensibilities. Although South Korean cinema didn’t break out into the global mainstream until the Cannes and Oscar success of Parasite (and on the small screen with Squid Game), it had been producing remarkable films for decades, despite unique historic and socio-economic challenges, and this season will serve as a perfect entry point and introduction for audiences to the rich legacy of Korean cinema…