Korean Cultural Center in Japan launches first Korean Film Festival in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, screening ‘Mad Dance Office,’ ‘Sunny’ and more

A new leap forward after 26 years, a springboard for K-movies’ global expansion

‘Korean Cultural Center in Japan’ said on the 9th that it will host the first ‘Korean Film Festival’ from the 14th through the 21st at the Korean Cultural Center’s Handam Hall in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward. The festival will showcase a broad selection of recent Korean films that have not received official releases in Japan, further raising the profile of K-content in the country.

Since 2001, the center has held ‘Korean Cinema Week’ every year to introduce Korean films to local audiences. Now in its 26th year, the event will build on that legacy while being upgraded and revamped under the name ‘Korean Film Festival’ to offer a deeper look at the artistic and popular appeal distinctive to Korean cinema.

The festival features a diverse lineup of new releases designed to capture Japanese audiences’ attention. The program includes ‘Number One,’ which is generating interest as an adaptation of a Japanese novel of the same name, and ‘Love at 3mm,’ directed by Korean-Japanese filmmaker Jeon Jin-yung, along with a number of unreleased films including ‘High Sweetness’ and ‘Mad Dance Office.’

The festival will also bring back acclaimed films that made a major impact when they were released in South Korea. The ‘Relive the Emotion! Korean Cinema Classics’ section will screen ‘Salut d’Amour’ and ‘Sunny,’ offering Japanese audiences universal stories that resonate across generations.

Park Young-hye, director of the Korean Cultural Center, said, “We organized this festival to actively support the expansion of Korean films into overseas markets and revitalize the local ecosystem for Korean Wave content.” The event is expected to serve as an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the two countries’ film and video industries, beyond simply promoting cultural exchange.