Korean Cinema's Golden Decade: The 1960s

Long before Bong Joon Ho, Hong Sangsoo, and Park Chan-wook catapulted South Korean cinema onto the world stage, the foundation of their country’s film industry was forged in the aftermath of the Korean War. This period kickstarted a wave of innovative filmmaking that culminated in the 1960s. We've teamed up with the Korean Film Archive and the Korean Cultural Center New York to bring over 24 movies from this Golden Era of Korean cinema, when the country's economy was exploding, youth culture was igniting, and like everywhere else in the world, revolution was in the air. During that decade, Korea made around 200 movies per year and most of them have never been screened in the US. These are Korean movies like you've never seen before, a window into a lost world pulsating with energy and dripping with blood. The movies that inspired today’s filmmakers like Park Chan-Wook and Bong Joon-Ho. This is ground zero, the wellspring of imagination and inspiration that helped create the wealth of Korean movies hitting the big screen and winning Oscars today.

Although the military dictatorship still imposed tight constraints throughout this era, what these filmmakers managed to accomplish, in arthouse fare and unabashed popular entertainment alike, continues to echo and inspire to this day.

We've been striking new transfers, negotiating with rights holders, getting new restorations, and translating brand new subtitles to make this happen! Many of the movies we’re screening were assumed lost until prints were found in the past decade, so this is truly a treasure trove the likes of which you’ve never seen.

Tickets are on sale now! Along with full write-ups of the movies!

Organized by Young Jin Eric Choi, Goran Topalovic, and Tyler Wilson. Co-presented by Subway Cinema in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center New York and the Korean Film Archive.

Acknowledgements:  Choi Jee-Woong and PROPAGANDA; Darcy Paquet; Kyungmi Kim; Taekyung Goh; SRS Cinema; Chae Yunsun; Kwon Munkyu; Sung Yeon Tae; Shon Kisoo; Roh Changwoo.