Korea Week Cinema 2021

The Korean Cultural Institute has organized "Korea Week 2021" from 9 to 14 November 2021, comprising various events focused on Korean Cinema.

For the review, projections of Korean films, cooking shows on Hansik, seminars, projections of shows, etc. were organized.

Since 2016, the Institute has organized Korea Week in Rome or in a large Italian city, but in the second half of 2020 and in the first half of 2021 the week of events dedicated to Korean Culture took place online due to the pandemic crisis that hit Italy and the world. This time with the slight improvement in the period in which the exhibition was opened, the event was organized "in person", obviously following the regulations in force at the time.

The timing in which the event opened can be defined as ideal in light of the great interest that Korean film production has been enjoying in recent times. Just to mention a couple of exemplary cases we can mention "Parasite" and "Squid Game".

And it was therefore a great opportunity to present to the Italian public high-level Korean films belonging to several generations such as "Hanyo" by director Kim Ki-young, one of the milestones of Korean Cinema, or "Drunk with women and painting" by Im Kwon-taek, another classic Korean film masterpiece or even the very recent "Introduction" by Hong sang-soo best screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival, for a total of 9 carefully selected Korean films.

In particular, the organization and selection of the Korean Film Festival was curated by the Asian Film Festival, known for the expertise of Oriental Cinema, screenings that were organized at the Casa del Cinema, a reference place for cinema lovers. 'author in the capital.

During the opening period of Korea Week with the improvement of the pandemic situation, the room was opened to 100% of the capacity for a total of about 1300 spectators in 4 days of Korean Film screenings. The turnout of the public was such that unfortunately some people were unable to find a seat in the room.

In order to be able to see the films, the public waited in line outside the cinemas even for 1 hour, thus confirming the growing interest of Italians in Korean Cinema and the iron will to discover a rich culture that is increasingly revealing itself to the eyes. of the world. In addition, a small kiosk was set up in the external spaces of the Casa del Cinema where passers-by could try two traditional Korean games that became famous with the "Squid Game" series: the Dalgona and the Ttakgi-cighi.

The press also welcomed the organization of the event with interest with articles in the main Italian newspapers such as "Corriere della Sera", "La Repubblica" and "Il Messaggero" for a total of 105 articles regarding Korea Week Cinema 2021.

The event, as well as being promoted through the channels of the Institute and all collaborating bodies, was also posted on all the stations of the Rome underground.