From June 18 through July 1, the Korea Foundation hosted the 2021 KF World Cinema Week, both online and in-person. To mark the 30th anniversary of its establishment, the Korea Foundation organized a series of three film events this year, featuring 30 movies from around the world. The KF World Cinema Week was the third event of this trilogy, following the “2021 ASEAN Cinema Week” and the “Central Asian Cinema Week,” both held in March.

Annually organized in cooperation with foreign diplomatic missions in Korea, the KF World Cinema Week introduces films from countries that are usually not easily available to the Korean public. This year’s event featured some of the most recent films from the countries of Central and South America, Northern Europe, the ASEAN region, the Balkans, and Central Asia, including Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Paraguay, Peru, Sweden, Thailand, and Turkey.

The opening ceremony of the 2021 KF World Cinema Week and the screening of the opening film “The Comeback” of Sweden were held at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, on June 18, with the participation of about 50 guests in compliance with the government’s social distancing policy. The opening ceremony was attended by KF President Lee Geun, ROK Ambassador for Public Diplomacy Jang Jae-bok, Realize Pictures President Won Dong-yeon, ambassadors and diplomats from 14 foreign diplomatic missions, director Kim Sung-ho, actor Lee Joo-shil, and other distinguished guests. TV personality Olivia Ih emceed the event and classical singer Ku Bon-su staged a congratulatory performance.

The 2021 KF World Cinema Week featured a total of 14 films, 10 newly introduced and 4 selected from the previous ASEAN and Central Asian film screening events as most popular with the audience. The newly featured films were: ① The Best Families (Peru, 2020), acclaimed by those in the film industry as a Peruvian version of the Korean film “Parasite,” ② Our Lady of the Nile (France, 2019), presenting the perspective of girls at a Catholic boarding school in Rwanda ③ Pity (Greece, 2018), a story of a man who becomes gradually addicted to consolation and pity from people around him, ④ The Lunch Room (Argentina, 2019), a story of a middle-aged woman who opens a cafeteria, ⑤ The Comeback (Sweden, 2020), featuring a former badminton champion’s failure, frustration, and ultimate revenge, ⑥ The Heiresses (Paraguay, 2018), a story of a woman who tries to stand on her own after a sheltered life, ⑦ Ága (Bulgaria, 2018), featuring the traditions of the Inuit people in Siberia and an Inuit couple’s daughter, ⑧ The Wild Pear Tree (Turkey, 2018), showing the reality and dreams of a young man who has returned to his hometown, ⑨ Mr. Tulio’s Hostel (Guatemala, 2019), a story of a hostel owner who dangerously goes back and forth between being a dreamer and an eccentric, and ⑩ Tito and the Birds (Brazil, 2018), an adventure of friends who hit the road in search of a cure for an mysterious epidemic.

In addition to the films, the KF World Cinema Week presented commentaries from directors, actors, and ambassadors to Korea, and online talks for film lovers. Journalist Lee Hwa-jeong and programmers Park Jin-hyeong and Kim Yeong-u introduced Asian, Central and South American, and European films and their characteristics at “CineTalk – My, Your, Our Lives in Cinema.” Musician Yojo and writer Im Gyeong-seon talked about women’s solidarity, life, and relationships through the films of Paraguay and Sweden at “Private Talks of Yojo and Im Gyeong-seon.” Directors Kim Sung-ho and Koo Ja-hong and actor Kim Hye-na introduced the films of Greece, Peru, and Bulgaria they chose at “The KF Film That I Picked.” In addition, this year’s event provided “barrier-free” subtitles for “The Comeback,” making the film more accessible to the hard of hearing.