Embassy of the Republic of Korea and Korean Cultural Center invite you to the 2023 Korean Film Festival, which will be held from June 8th to 11th at Vox Cinema in Yas Mall, Abu Dhabi. Under the theme of "Companionship", this festival will showcase eight captivating Korean films across various genres with intriguing stories.
Including the opening film "Hunt", the lineup features diverse films that illuminate the precious meaning of companionship in different ways. Through the main characters' gripping adventures and their journeys of overcoming challenges, you will witness the importance of understanding and support, and experience the unique emotional resonance that Korean films are known for delivering.
The 2023 Korean Film Festival is dedicated to celebrating the theme of "Companionship", seeking to inspire viewers to appreciate the value and power of friendship portrayed in Korean films. Furthermore, this festival aims to foster a deeper sense of companionship between Korea and the UAE by enhancing mutual cultural exchanges to an even greater extent.
Hunt
8 June (Thu), 7 pm *AR & EN subtitled
LEE Jung Jae | 2022 | 125 min | 15+ | Action, Drama
After a high-ranking North Korean official requests asylum, KCIA Foreign Unit chief Park Pyong-ho (LEE Jung Jae) and Domestic Unit chief Kim Jung-do (JUNG Woo Sung) are tasked with uncovering a North Korean spy, known as Donglim, who is deeply embedded within their agency. When the spy begins leaking top secret intel that could jeopardize national security, the two units are each assigned to investigate each other. In this tense situation where if they cannot find the mole, they may be accused themselves, Pyong-ho and Jung-do slowly start to uncover the truth. In the end, they must deal with an unthinkable plot to assassinate the South Korean president...
KIM Hyung-joo | 2021 | 105 min | PG-15 | Action, Comedy
Private investigator Woo Su-han, who will take on any job if it pays the bill, meets a rookie secret agent Yoo Da-hee, who comes along with $10,000 in cash. She proposes a joint operation to investigate an arms trafficking case. They attract more attention as a duo than when they are alone. As their operations continue, the cases become increasingly complex, and they leave misleading clues that could lead to misunderstandings by police and even put them on the wanted list. However, this thrilling collaboration cannot be stopped!
Ahn Tae-jin | 2022 | 118 min | 15+ | Drama, Thriller
The blind but exceptionally skilled acupuncturist Kyeong-soo(Ryu Joon-yeol) gains recognition for his talent and enters the palace. Around the same time, Prince So-hyeon, who had been taken hostage by the Qing dynasty, returns home after eight years, and King Injo(YOO Hae-jin) is filled with a mixture of joy and inexplicable anxiety towards his son. One night, in the darkness, Kyeong-soo faintly visible, witnesses the death of Prince So-hyeon, and as he attempts to reveal the truth, a bigger secret and conspiracy unravel, putting his life in jeopardy.
Pororo and Friends: Virus Busters
10 June (Sat), 3 pm *English dubbed
PARK Young-kyun | 2022 | 63 min | G | Animation
One day, Pororo notices an invasion of a virus monster inside the game that he plays on his tablet. Soon after, Pororo learns how the virus spreads out to the real world. In the meantime, Eddy who’s been working hard to create the vaccine enters the game world to save the world, only to find out that he left the vaccine behind. Realizing this, Pororo fights the monstrous virus in the real world and seeks ways to help Eddy. Would they be able to beat the virus and protect everyone?
*영어더빙/한국어 자막 없음, No subtitles
YOON Jong-seok | 2022 | 105 min | 15+ | Crime, Drama
Min-ho's adulterous lover Se-hee is murdered in the hotel where the two of them spent time together. Apart from Min-ho, there is no trace of anyone else having been there.
Immediately singled out as the prime suspect, Min-ho maintains his innocence, and he hires the lawyer Shin-ae, who has a 100% record of victory in court, to defend him. In order to prove his innocence, she asks Min-ho to confess to her the entire truth. He admits that a car accident that they were in the day before the murder may be connected in some way to Se-hee's death.
Confidential Assignment 2: International
10 June (Sat), 7 pm *EN subtitled
LEE Seok-hoon | 2022 | 128 min | 18+ | Action, Comedy
In order to bring down an international criminal organization that is hiding in South Korea, elite North Korean detective Lim Cheol-ryung (HYUN Bin) is dispatched to the South, while South Korean detective Kang Jin-tae (YOO Hai Jin) is sent to Cyber Crimes unit when an undercover operation goes South. Just as they’re about to raid the criminal organization’s leader, JANG Myung-jun (JIN Sun Kyu)’s hideout, FBI agent Jack (Daniel HENNEY) bursts in!
Fanatic
11 June (Sun), 5 pm *EN subtitled
OH Seyeon | 2022 | 84 min | PG-13 | Documentary
One day, my IDOL star became a criminal. I, who was his big fan, went through conflicting emotions. Fury, sorrow, shock and a little bit of embarrassment. I remembered my friends, his fans. Some say they are furious because they trusted and supported him the most, while some say the true fans will be there for him until the end. Can we keep being a fan? No, can we quit being a fan? Nowadays, which is a hard time to love someone to our hearts’ content, I listen to the fans who are suffering because of the love they’ve given.
Alienoid Part 1
11 June (Sun), 7 pm *EN subtitled
CHOI Dong-hoon | 2022 | 142 min | PG-13 | SF, Action
In the year 2022, a Robot Guard (Kim Woo-bin) manages alien prisoners trapped inside human brains. Raising the young girl Ean (Kim Tae-ri) on Earth, he lives in the guise of a human being. One day, when an alien prisoner escapes, the entire planet is thrown into jeopardy and Guard goes back to the past with Ean to trap the alien there.
Meanwhile 630 years earlier during the Goryeo Dynasty, an older Ean tries to retrieve the Divine Blade, the key to traveling through time, Muruk (Ryu Jun-yeol), a hapless dosa (Korean tao magician), is aiming to claim the enormous bounty placed on it.
