Korean award winning artist, Lee Chang-dong will be part of the 46th Durban International Film Festival in July in Durban
Image: Supplied
The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), in partnership with the Korean Cultural Centre in South Africa (KCCSA), will highlight the work of one of Korea’s most celebrated artists, Mr Lee Chang-dong. The festival will take place from July 17 to 27.
The increasing availability of film and television series from South Korea via streaming services and the insatiable appetite of the growing K-pop fan base have meant a surge in interest in the cultural output of the country.
Mr Chang-dong stands out as a pivotal figure in Korean cinema as he brings a rare depth to storytelling, blending poetic visuals with an unflinching look at the human condition. Not just entertainment, his films are meditations on life’s messiness, often leaving audiences wrestling with complex questions rather than handing out easy answers.
While he has written and directed just six features in over two decades, the calibre of his work has placed him among the most admired auteurs in film. A celebrated literary figure in South Korea whose fiction earned him accolades well before his foray into cinema. Mr Chang-dong writes and directs harrowing tales that place his characters in extreme psychological and physical agony to test the limits of the human spirit.
His tightly structured plotlines deliver unflinching exposés of pain, trauma, and rage. He appears to follow conventional genre tropes, from melodrama to noir and gangster flicks, only to subvert audience expectations with exceptionally complex stories that leave them to contemplate perplexing existential, spiritual, and moral questions. A writer turned director whose literary background lends his films their novelistic weight, he has made some of the most searching and emotionally devastating works in contemporary cinema.
Mr Chang-dong started filmmaking at 40, initially working as a screenwriter and assistant director. Between making Oasis (2002) and Secret Sunshine (2007), from 2003 to 2004, he served as South Korea’s Minister of Culture and Tourism. Exposed to all the beauty, pain, and tension of real life, his films look closely at ordinary people pushed to emotional extremes as they grapple with tragedy and trauma: In Burning (2018), a slow-burn mystery about class, jealousy, and existential drift, adapted from Mr Haruki Murakami story, Mr Chang-dong transforms a slim narrative into a haunting, ambiguous masterpiece that has earned him critical acclaim and a Palme d’Or nomination at the Cannes Film Festival.
Mr Chang-dong’s retrospective is made possible with the support of the KCCSA, which has played a key role in showcasing the richness and diversity of Korean culture to South African audiences. From film, art, and food to language, fashion, beauty, sports, and the global phenomenon of K-pop and K-dramas, the Centre has introduced a vibrant spectrum of Korean content to South Africa. Through collaborative projects and cultural initiatives, KCCSA is committed to fostering deeper mutual understanding and strengthening enduring ties between South Korea and South Africa. To learn more about the Centre’s programmes and initiatives, visit their website (https://sa.korean-culture.org/en) or follow their social media pages.
Audiences will be able to enjoy five of Lee Chang-dong’s films:
PEPPERMINT CANDY July 19, 19:00 Gateway 9
BURNING July 20, 16:30 Gateway 9
POETRY July 20, 18:30 Pavilion 12
SECRET SUNSHINE July 22, 18:30 Gateway 8
OASIS July 23, 18:30 Gateway 8
Tickets are available at Webtickets.