The Lena Ghio Paradox/Le Paradoxe Lena Ghio: OPENING NIGHT • 12 Korean Film Festival Canada in Montreal / May 22

Sunday, May 25, 2025

OPENING NIGHT • 12 Korean Film Festival Canada in Montreal / May 22 - June 28 2025

The whole crew of 12 Korean Film Festival Canada TEASER

FRANÇAIS app de traduction à gauche

Christina (Tina), also known as Big Daddy Queen Power is a Korean-Italian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was the host for the evening. You can sample her work here. Everyone was a delight to meet and exchange with.

Cinema is the mirror through which society gazes at itself and the 12th Korean Film Festival Canada (KFFC) is a kaleidoscope—an exquisitely curated, multidimensional experience refracting the vivid, vulnerable, and visionary expressions of Korea, Asia, and beyond. Running from May 22nd to June 28th, 2025, across multiple in-the-know venues in Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal, this year’s edition is not merely a festival—it’s a manifesto. A love letter to art, technology, intercultural communion, and the dreamlike dimensions where they intertwine.

This year's theme, a graceful continuation of 2024’s motif, “Arts & Technologies: Sleep, Dream, Body,” elegantly invites us to question the relationship between our inner landscapes and the cinematic canvas. With events sprawling across Cinéma Moderne, Cinéma du Musée, Centre Création Danse Nyata Nyata, Goethe-Institut Montréal, and the sun-drenched outdoor esplanade of Bassin Peel, the 12th KFFC is not just an occasion to watch films—it’s where culture, contemporary zeitgeist, and philosophy converge.

from left to right: Philip Szporer, freelance writer, filmmaker and international lecturer; Mi-Jeong Lee, Media Artist, Founder and AD of Arts East-West/KFFC; Chaouki Dakdouki, Directeur général régional – Regional Director General Région du Québec – Quebec Region - Patrimoine canadien – Canadian Heritage; Annabelle Kang, Assistant Director of Arts East-West/KFFC

Jae Wan Lee,
Permanent Representative
of the Republic of Korea on the
Council of ICAO
Consul General and Ambassador

Opening night at Cinéma du Musée unfolded with quiet sophistication and purpose. Guests from across Montreal’s creative community gathered over thoughtfully prepared Korean dishes courtesy of DANO FOODS, exchanging ideas, impressions, and anticipation.

But beyond the convivial atmosphere, something more meaningful was taking shape. Korean cinema and Asian art weren’t just on the schedule—they were part of a growing cultural movement. Their presence reflected not only artistic excellence but also a shift in global attention, capturing the ethos of this time with stories that resonate across borders.

Bong Joon Ho’s early short Incoherence (1994)—yes, the Bong Joon Ho, pre-Parasite—resurfaced like a long-lost archival gem. Equal parts hilarious and horrifying, the film exposes social hypocrisies with the surgical precision only a genius-in-the-making could muster. It was followed by Sea, Carry My Dream (2023), a poetic animated ode to displaced communities from director Masoud Raouf, that reminded us dreams are borderless, and sometimes boats are too small for the weight of hope they carry.

And finally, Silver Apricot (2024) by Jang Man-min—a slow-burn, emotionally exquisite feature tracing one woman’s painful, comedic, and ultimately liberating unraveling of family ties and societal expectations. It was less a film, more a therapy session disguised in soft pastels and digital brushstrokes.

The filmmakers: Vincent Toi, Ki Chai Jeong, Hyunwoo Lee / Takumi, Masoud Raouf, Chrystal Chan, Philip Szporer

This year’s KFFC doesn’t merely project films—it reflects the moment. With over 40 programs, including 27 Asian arthouse films, VR installations, media arts exhibitions, and interdisciplinary roundtables, KFFC 2025 stands boldly at the confluence of artistic innovation and cultural diplomacy.

As Jae Wan Lee, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Montréal, eloquently noted, "Films allow Korea and Canada to access segments of each nation's histories, societies and cultures." His words ring especially poignant during the 2024–2025 Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchange, underlining cinema's soft power to unite, challenge, and transform.

This year’s festival is more than a redux—it’s a reimagining. The newly introduced Intercultural Encounters on June 6 promises to be a free, dynamic symposium of conversations, collaborations, and cross-pollinations. Think TED Talk meets K-pop fan forum with a dash of global think-tank—yes, it’s that cool.

From June 11–14, the Goethe-Institut Montréal hosts a Media Arts Exhibition exploring how VR and immersive installations can alter, or perhaps awaken, our perception of embodiment and memory.

And then, there’s KFFC Plein Air—the festival’s flirtation with the outdoors, a full-day celebration on June 28th at Bassin Peel in partnership with La Semaine Coréenne – Édition Jeju and Cinéma sous les étoiles. Picture this: a velvet Montréal evening, stars above, water beside, Korean cinema on the big screen, and community all around. You’ll want to bring your best picnic blanket—and your most photogenic outfit.

All good things must end, but not without a cinematic mic drop. The closing program on June 7th at Cinéma Moderne features two films that blur the lines between memory, identity, and ideology with a sophistication rarely seen outside museum walls.

Hong Sang-soo’s A Traveler’s Needs (2024), starring the ever-radiant Isabelle Huppert, is a minimalist marvel about dislocation and desire. And Helen Lee’s Paris to Pyongyang (2024) is a masterclass in autobiographical storytelling—juxtaposing 1950s French intellectual fervor with the delicate, fading recollections of a Korean grandmother. It’s poignant. It’s political. It’s pure poetry.

As you enter the various venues, you will see books that you can consult In situ and a box where you can donate to support the Korean Film Festival Canada.