London Korean Film Festival 2026: Two Weeks of Premieres in Central London
Two Weeks of Korean Cinema Across Three Central London Venues
If you’ve spent the last year wandering past Korean food stalls and sold-out markets, you’ll know the city’s appetite for Korean culture is growing fast. The London Korean Film Festival is back for its 21st edition from Monday 2 to Monday 16 November 2026, and it’s one of the best places to see where that enthusiasm meets the big screen. The programme is spread across three venues that each have their own character. BFI Southbank sits under the arches beside the Thames, a short walk from Waterloo station, and is the festival’s main hub. Ciné Lumière, tucked into South Kensington near the French Institute, offers an intimate screening room that suits smaller independent films. The ICA, on The Mall close to Trafalgar Square, brings a more experimental edge. Organised by the Korean Cultural Centre UK, the festival covers crime thrillers, family dramas, documentaries and bold independent work from the country’s leading directors. For Londoners who want more than a multiplex experience, it’s a rare chance to see a wide range of Korean cinema on a single city-wide circuit, all within a fortnight.
Filmmakers, Stars and the Local Groups Behind the Event
The festival opens on 2 November with the UK premiere of Kim Mi-jo’s crime drama The Journey to Gyeong-ju. It screens with a Q&A featuring the director and Lee Jung-eun, whose work in Parasite made her a familiar face to many British audiences. Later in the run, Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love, which won the Silver Lion at Venice, will be shown, and Frederik Sølberg’s Hana Korea stars Kim Min-ha, of Pachinko, as a young North Korean refugee. A Women’s Voices strand brings together new fiction, documentary and animated shorts by emerging creators. Behind the scenes, the Korean Cultural Centre UK carries the logistics, and the number of filmmakers planning to attend means audiences can hear directly from the people who made the films. That access matters for local organisers too. Small film societies, community screening groups and freelance arts workers rely on careful budgeting and clean records to keep events running. In Hounslow, for example, local bookkeeping firms regularly help small creative businesses track ticket income, grants and expenses, which is the sort of unglamorous groundwork that lets a festival like this happen.
What Richmond and Whitton Readers Should Do Next
For residents of Richmond and Whitton, the festival is an easy trip into town. Trains from Richmond run direct to Waterloo, from where BFI Southbank is only a few minutes’ walk, so a Friday evening screening is very doable after work. Whitton residents can reach Richmond or Twickenham and connect from there, or simply plan a longer outing and make an evening of it. My practical advice is to decide early which films you want to see, as the most anticipated titles, especially the opening night and any Q&A sessions, are likely to sell fast. Check the full programme and ticket availability at koreanfilm.co.uk, and sign up for updates there in case of added screenings or late changes. If you’re new to Korean cinema, the festival is a good place to start, with a mix of accessible crime drama and more demanding independent work. Keep an eye on the Women’s Voices shorts too, which often offer the most surprising discoveries. Whatever you choose, book soon, arrive a little early for the Q&As, and take the chance to talk with the filmmakers while they’re still in the room.
Source: The London Korean Film Festival Returns for Two Weeks
