For about a decade and a half I’ve been highlighting all the brilliant events at the Korean Cultural Centre U.K. (KCCUK) in London and no more so than their superb film screenings AND film seasons or movie strands.
This includes their long-running and a esteemed London Korean Film Festival.
I (Jason Verney) also have a lot to thank these guys for too. If it weren’t for the KCCUK venue & the LKFF itself I may never have achieved so many interviews with well-known, and indeed lesser known Korean directors, actors and individuals from the film world.
Certain people there have encouraged and permitted any film work or documentaries I undertook at the KCCUK and in fact staff who have since left their role in that place remain good friends.
It may have been a while since my last such article and even though I’m spending much of my time in Asia these days (even twice in 2024 – once for the Sewol ferry 10 year anniversary and the Jeonju International Film Festival [JIFF] etc and again as a jury member on the Seoul Whilstler Film Festival [SWFF]), I’m still a follower and a supporter of the LKFF and therefore the KCCUK. If I need to give other excuses, in all honesty, I’m often busy with my filmmaking [see the last paragraph of this article], my podcasts (not least a Korea related one and a filmmaking one), activism or mixing with the locals in Asia – if you don’t believe me, you can find all the ‘stuff’ over at JasonVerney.com…!
One person I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting to last year at JIFF in Jeonju was film director HUR Jin-ho – he was attending to give talks and show his previous Korean film CLASSICS, such as “Christmas in August” and April Snow. I was in his presence again at Busan International Film Festival [BIFF] 2024, when he was there to promote his latest offering, “A Normal Family”.
Well, you can imagine how delighted I was this month when the KCCUK announced a screening of HUR Jin-ho’s beautiful and moving film, “The Last Princess” – it is being screened for FREE in early August.
The film is being screened as part of a Special Season which marks the 80th Anniversary of Korea’s Liberation. This curated selection of Korean films, on the theme of Liberation began earlier in 2025 and therefore already included the well-rated movie, “A Resistance“.
At the time of writing this article, there are still a few spaces left for this free screening of “The Last Princess”, but be prepared… if you do witness this and you’re easily brought to tears, happy for Korea’s highs in their history or simply a little patriotic, there may be a damp eye or two by the end of the film. I say this because I witnessed this film way back in 2016 at the Busan International Film Festival and by the time the credits rolled there didn’t seem to be a single dry eye in the auditorium.
I recall feeling being ‘right there’, empathetic or sympathetic or maybe somewhat proud when I experienced this film… and the sniffling.
Lastly, and speaking of tears, London, the KCCUK, the LKFF and indeed JIFF, all these elements feature in my latest film… Yes, it’s a 70-minute ‘ten tale tribute’ for the victims, families, survivors of the 2014 Sewol ferry tragedy, hopefully coming to a film festival near you (hot on the heals of recently having its UK Premiere in Kingston-upon-Thames).