The Tiger descends.
K-Cinema Hunters take the stage.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not your everyday spectacle. Since the day Korean women first set foot on Icelandic soil, never has there been a feast like this — welcome to the Korean Film Festival Iceland!

Lucky Chan-si (2022)
Screening: 16 / 11 / Sat / 7 PM

Where the wind dwells, where
K-stories drift.

The Korean Wave, or hallyu, has crossed the East Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic, finally crashing onto the shores of Iceland. Who would have imagined that Korea’s very own reapers — THE K-pop Demon Hunters — would be stirring up the world’s screens like this? I still remember that morning when Golden blasted through the loudspeakers of an elementary school near Hringbraut and Meistaravellir. Now, let’s ride that wave a little further — into even fiercer winds: Iceland.

This year, we bring you the works of six Korean directors: PARK Chan-wook, HWANG Dong-hyuk, HONG Sang-soo, ZHANG Lü, KIM Cho-hee, and JEON Soo-il — the mighty “K-Cinema Hunters” who have etched their names deep into the mountain range of Korean cinema. Our selections trace the textures of existence on screen, sometimes sharp, sometimes quietly warm. Among them, PARK Chan-wook’s new film No Other Choice (2025) and JEON Soo-il’s With a Girl of Black Soil (2007) serve as mirrors from different eras. Both speak of labor and home: one through the fractures of modern urban life, the other through the ruins of a mining village and the poverty of its ground. Past and present echo each other, opening a gaze that sees both at once.

With a Girl of Black Soil (2007)
Screening: 16 / 11 / Sun / 4:30 PM

With a Girl of Black Soil, directed by JEON Soo-il, is a film that simply cannot be watched without tears. It captures the desperate voices of the last generation living in Korea’s coal-mining towns. The lives of workers were harsh back then — and somehow, they still feel the same today. There’s a scene where a nine-year-old girl steals a pack of ramyeon and a bottle of soju for her drunken father, running away into the night. At that moment, I couldn’t stop crying — tears falling thick and clumsy, like drops that splatter and won’t dry. (That’s how we Koreans say it: “tears like chicken droppings.”)

I wanted Icelanders to see this film — to see the black soil of Korea’s mining village that strangely resembles the colors of Iceland. If the North of Iceland carries the rough lives of fishermen, then Taebaek in Korea holds the blood and cries of miners.

Now then, (wipe your tears), let’s move on to our Merry Chan-sil — no, Lucky Chan-sil. I truly adore this cheerful woman’s character. Every night, she chats with a Hong Kong actor in her imagination (or maybe for real?). A bright, free-spirited soul, she fills her bittersweet, jobless days with love. Even if it’s not the kind of love that wins Oscars, her story glows with humor and hope amid the shared themes of labor and home.

ZHANG Lü’s Gyeongju (2014) unfolds in a city where life and death quietly overlap. Everyday tombs become mirrors of the characters’ inner worlds, and the protagonist’s search for a painting glimpsed years ago turns into an act of grasping what has vanished and reviving what was forgotten. The city itself and the missing image intertwine to pose a lingering question: What disappears, and what remains?

And don’t forget the French lady playing her flute in Seoul Forest — HONG Sang-soo’s A Traveler’s Needs. Suspended between staying and leaving, she offers yet another face of identity. Iris (Isabelle HUPPERT), who seems to float as if walking on the moon, may understand life better than anyone else. Like the makgeolli she drinks every day, her life, too, feels well-fermented — with that milky, tangy taste of time. I couldn’t help falling for her as she played her flute.

Then comes our Godfather of Squid Game himself — HWANG Dong-hyuk — with Miss Granny. Put down that packet of dried squid you’ve been gnawing on, because what awaits you on the Bíó Paradís screen is not death games, but a second chance at life — a rejuvenated one. Not through Botox, but with a single photograph, a 74-year-old grandmother is transformed back into her twenties. Yet, she carries all 74 years of memories and her soul, returning only in body — a fascinating and bittersweet dissonance. In this role, SHIM Eun-kyung, who became the first Korean actress to win Best Actress at the 43rd Japan Academy Awards for The Journalist (2020), perfectly embodies this wronged yet spirited grandmother.

Bringing together these diverse faces of Korean cinema, the 1st Korean Film Festival Iceland presents stories that span eras, landscapes, and hearts. Different eras and visions intersect — sometimes colliding, sometimes resonating — offering audiences the deep, lasting reverberations that Korean cinema evokes.

So, are you ready to ride the wild Icelandic waves where the Korean Wave has landed? For two hours, stories from across the globe will unfold — hold tight to your makgeolli glass and keep your laughter (and tears) ready. This is no ordinary event: for the first time since Korean women set foot on this black soil, the cinematic feast begins! Come join us on this journey, and let these tales travel on Iceland’s wind to reach you wherever you are.