The London Korean Film Festival is due to commence November 3rd

The London Korean Film Festival (LKFF) 2011 will host the European premieres of several of this years Korean blockbusters.

Running from November 3rd-17th, LKFF will open with action/adventure film War of the Arrows (최종병기 활) (aka Arrow: The Ultimate Weapon), which stayed at the top of the Korean box office chart for several weeks and has currently grossed over 55,135 million Won. According to Hangul Celluloid, preceding the premiere will be a K-pop concert beginning at 4.30pm.

In addition, sleeper-hit Sunny (써니) which took the prize for Best Director at The Daejong Film Awards, and The Front Line (고지전), winner of Best Picture and official entry to The Academy Awards, will premiere at the event. Furthermore, gritty urban thriller The Yellow Sea (황해), period-comedy Detective K: Secret of the Virtuous Woman (조선명탐정: 각시투구꽃의 비밀), Kim Ki Duk’s critically acclaimed Poongsan (풍산개), and animated tale Leafie: A Hen Into The Wild (마당을 나온 암탉) will all be showcased.

Here’s a trailer showcasing the upcoming screenings of the festival.

LKFF will also be holding a 1 minute short mobile phone competition, to be judged by none other than Old Boy director Park Chan Wook. The winning short will be shown alongside the Mise-en-Scene Shorts, which will include Park Chan Wook’s Night Fishing (파란만장) which was not only shot entirely on an iphone but also won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at The Berlin Film Festival.

To win free tickets, LKFF has also arranged a competition for fans to post pictures of themselves with a promotional poster.

Special events, including a Korean Cinema Forum and Masterclasses, will be held featuring academics, journalists and Korean film professionals. Most notably, director Ryoo Seung Wan will host a ‘masterclass’ event  while his back-catalogue will be screened as this years ‘Director’s Retrospective.’ His latest film, The Unjust (부당거래), will be the closing film of the festival.

The festival won’t be restricted to London either; the festival will also travel to Sheffield (12-13th, at the Showroom Sheffield), Cambridge (18-20th at the Arts Picturehouse), and Newcastle (20-24th, at the Tyneside Cinema).

You can book tickets to the festival here.

With so many films being showcased, and unselfishly taking the festival to other cities, the upcoming London Korean Film Festival looks certain to impress.