The Korean film industry’s success at home has also seen it secure invitations and awards at many of the world’s top film festivals. The “Big Three” film festivals in Europe (Berlin, Cannes and Venice) tend to attract most of the media attention, not least Cannes with the studios capitalizing on the extra publicity. There are also numerous other festivals that are important for Korean cinema; from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Sitges and San Sebastian in Spain, Udine in Italy, and Toronto in North America.

This week we will profile some of the titles that have already hit the festival circuit beginning with three of the features that were invited to Berlinale: Hong Sangsoo’s What Does That Nature Say to You (2025), Min Kyu-dong’s The Old Woman with the Knife (2025), and Kang Mi-ja’s Spring Night (2024). It will the turn to Lee Taewoong’s Korean Dream: The Nama-jinheung Mixtape that screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam before profiling Kim Bo-sol’s The Square (2024) that is closing the Far East Film Festival in Udine. We will then look at possible festival contenders for the fall festival circuit led by Park Chan-wook’s upcoming No Other Choice.

What Does That Nature Say to You

Berlinale has been a champion of Korean cinema that’s been evident for decades. Kang Dae-jin’s A Coachman (1961) won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize in 1961 becoming the first Korean film to win a major award at a festival. In 1998 it invited 13 titles including four films by Kim Ki-young following a retrospective at the Busan International Film Festival four months earlier. It would also screen Park Chan-wook’s JSA (2000) in 2001 and his film I’m a Cyborg but That’s OK (2006) won the Alfred Bauer Award in 2007.

More recently, Hong Sangsoo has won multiple awards at the festival including A Traveler’s Needs (2024) that won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize marking his fifth Silver Bear Award. He was once again in Berlin this year with his 33^rd film What Does That Nature Say to You (2025) competing for the Golden Bear. It was one of four Korean features at the festival with Kim Moo-young’s The Sense of Violence (2024) also invited there. As well as the aforementioned titles, Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 (2025) had its German premiere in Berlin.

Hong’s latest in which he again directs, writes, and produces follows a young poet (Ha Seong-guk) who spends the day with his girlfriend’s parents at their rural family home as we follow the conversations they have. It also stars one of Hong’s regulars Kwon Hae-hyo as the father.

The idiosyncratic auteur remains the most prolific in Korean cinema with his films continuing to secure invitations at major festivals, often winning prestigious accolades. His previous film By the Stream (2024) that stars Kim Min-hee saw her win the Pardo for Best Performance Award at the Locarno Film Festival. It was also recently invited along with Park Ri-woong’s The Land of the Morning Calm (2024) to the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF49) that takes place between 10 and 21 April. What Does That Nature Say to You is set for a theatrical release in Korea on May 14.

The Old Woman with the Knife (2025)

Veteran actress Lee Hye-young - she has featured in several of Hong Sangsoo’s recent films including A Traveler’s Needs (2024) - stars in Min Kyu-dong’s The Old Woman with the Knife (2025) that premiered in Berlinale Special. Based on Gu Byeong-mo’s novel of the same name, Lee plays an assassin in her 60s called Hornclaw who works with a young hitman (Kim Sung-cheol) but an incident in the past ends up leading them to a deadly confrontation.

Min whose work has encompassed a range of genres including horror Memento Mori (1999), romantic comedies All for Love (2005)) and period dramas The Treacherous (2015) turns to the revenge thriller for his latest, a popular genre especially in Western markets. The film is also screening at Brussels Fantastic Film Festival and the 15^th Beijing International Film Festival. It follows a similar journey to Exhuma (2024) that was invited to Berlinale and Beijing in what is potentially a further sign that Korean content is being screened at festivals in China after an unofficial ban in the wake of the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in 2017.

Spring Night (2024)

Both the drama Spring Night and the documentary The Sense of Violence that screened in the Berlinale’s Forum section premiered at the Busan Film Festival underlining its importance as a launching pad for independent Korean cinema. Other films to have screened at Busan and then have headed to Berlin include Kim Bora’s House of Hummingbird (2019) and Kim Sein’s The Apartment with Two Women (2022).

Directed by Kang Mi-ja Let the Blue River Run (2009), Spring Night follows young woman (Han Ye-ri) who turns to alcohol after her former husband secretly takes her child with his new wife to Canada. She develops a relationship with a man (Kim Seol-jin) who is buried in debt – his wife has disappeared after she has sold off all their assets. They find comfort in each other.

The festival wrote “there is great tenderness in Kang’s lyrically structured film, its night gripped by inchoate yearning and its days suffused with the promise of renewal.”

Korean Dream: The Nama-jinheung Mixtape

Like Berlinale, Rotterdam (IFFR) too is held in February – though a little earlier beginning at the end of January – and has long also been a prominent venue for Korean cinema.  It invited Bong Joon Ho’s Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) that flopped in Korea and despite a frantic awards schedule, Bong insisted that he return to the festival in 2020 with the black and white version of Parasite (2019) that was presented to audiences for the first time.  Five Korean films have won the festival’s top accolade, the Tiger Award: Hong Sangsoo’s The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1997), Park Chan-ok’s Jealousy Is My Middle Name (2003), Yang Ik-june’s Breathless (2009), Park Jung-bum’s The Journals of Musan (2011) and Han Gong-ju (2014).

Screening in the festival’s “Cinema Regained” this year was Lee Taewoong’s documentary Korean Dream: The Nama-jinheung Mixtape (2024). It’s a collection of fragments from over 50 films by the Korean production company Nama-jinheung (now defunct) that was producing titles during the turbulent 1970s and 1980s.  The film premiered at the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival in the Korean competition in 2024 – one of Korea’s leading events for documentary cinema.

Produced by Korea’s public broadcaster KBS, it was also behind the series Modern Korea (2019-2024) that examines Korea’s history spanning four seasons to date through its own productions. The festival also twice previously invited episodes from the series.

Olaf Möller, a member of the IFFR selection committee wrote “An exemplary exercise in appropriated footage filmmaking, Korean Dream: The Nama-jinheung Mixtape is also an invitation to discover this little discussed chapter of Korean film history!”

The Square (2024)

Equally important for Korean cinema are the festivals that focus on Korean and Asian cinema screening commercial and independent films by both well-known and less established filmmakers giving audiences an opportunity to watch a range of Korean films. It also offers a chance for viewers to meet the talent in person through Q&As, masterclasses and other events.

In Italy, both the Florence Korean Film Fest and the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Udine have long been popular with Korean talent hosting an array of guests each year and showcasing the wide breadth of Korea’s vibrant industry. In March, at the Florence Korean Film Fest, retrospectives of Hwang Jung-min and director Na Hong-jin were held with both stars in attendance.

Beginning on April 24 and taking place until May 2, FEFF will screen films from across Asia with twelve titles from Korea including Kim Han-gyeol’s Pilot (2023), Kwon Hyeok-jae’s Dark Nuns (2024) and Yang Woo-seok’s About Family (2023). It will close with the world premiere of the KAFA (Korean Academy of Film Arts) animation The Square (2024) by Kim Bo-sol who helmed the animated short Home (2019) that secured festival invitations at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) and the Great Short Film Festival, among others.

The Square centers on the First Secretary of Sweden who resides in the North Korean capital Pyongyang. He has been meeting with a local traffic security officer but after she disappears suddenly, the diplomat begins a frantic search for her. FEFF describe it as an “animated romantic masterpiece” and a “true immersion in poetry and beauty.”

Over recent years, KAFA has continued to produce animations that have traveled to film festivals. Park Jae-beom’s Mother Land (2022) screened at the Busan International Film Festival in 2022 as well as festivals in Europe such as Fribourg International Film Festival (2023). Kim Hye-mi’s Climbing (2020) similarly struck a chord overseas with festival invitations including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2021.  

Possible Contenders for Fall Festival Circuit

After the disappointment of no Korean films at the Cannes film festival (at the time of writing, it is possible films are later added as was the case with Project Silence in 2023), attention will turn to the fall festival circuit that includes Venice, Toronto as well as other festivals like San Sebastian, Locarno and London.

There is much buzz surrounding Park Chan-wook’s next film No Other Choice (2025) that wrapped shooting in January meaning a Cannes premiere looked doubtful. But the film, which stars Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin is a leading contender for Venice and/or Toronto potentially. If it was to premiere in Venice, it would mark his return to the festival after attending in 2005 for Lady Vengeance (2005) where it competed for the Golden Lion.

The film based on the novel The Ax by Donald E. Westlake follows a man searching for new employment after being sacked at his company. Financed and distributed by CJ ENM, the company could have a busy fall season with the Save the Green Planet! (2003) English-language remake Bugonia (2025) directed by Yorgos Lanthimos also a possible fall festival title. CJ ENM is co-producing the film.

Director Yoon Ga-eun has a new film called Master of the World (translated title). She earned significant critical acclaim for her short Sprout (2013) and feature debut The World of Us (2016). Both films were invited to Berlinale and given her talent – Bong Joon Ho included her as one of the 20 emerging directors for the 2020s for his guest edited edition of the Sight and Sound Magazine – making her next film eagerly anticipated. It stars Go Min-see Smugglers (2023) and Jang Hye-jin (The World of Us, Parasite) and centers around an 18-year-old high school student.

Ahead of the Cannes announcement, other films that were generating buzz in the local media included Yeon Sang-ho’s The Ugly, Kim Mi-jo’s The Journey to Gyeongju featuring Lee Jung-eun and Park So-dam from Parasite, and the blockbuster Kim Byung-woo’s Omniscient Reader based on the popular web novel of the same name. While they ultimately were not in the Cannes lineup, it’s possible they will greet audiences at other festivals later in the year.

Written by Jason Bechervaise

 Edited by kofic