11. Satellite Girl and Milk Cow (Chang Hyung-yun)
At first glance, TMG looks like a standard Asian animation. However, featuring a satellite transformed into a girl and a singer, that like all broken-hearted lovers on earth was turned into a milk cow, it must be one of the quirkiest films about the essence of love ever made. This penchant for strange stories and transformation is already present in the earlier shorts of writer/director Chang Hyung-yun, such as “A Coffee Vending Machine and Its Sword”, where the main character reincarnates as a coffee vending machine, or “Wolf Daddy” about a talking wolf and his odd and ever growing family. All his films comment on real human emotion and values and the filmmaker manages to perfectly balance his message and the craziness of his ideas. Combined with a strong design this makes his films poignant commentaries on human relationships and emotions in today’s world.
12. The Senior Class (Hong Deok-pyo, 2016)
Hong Deok-pyo directs a very realistic movie that pulls no punches in its depiction of the realities of the art world and the school environment. Everyone wants to succeed, and are willing to do anything to accomplish that, starting with the students (with Joo-hee being the chief example of this tendency) and finishing at the teachers. In this world, Jeong-woo, who is actually a romantic who creates webtoons about the woman he loves, seems completely out of his depth, with his downward spiral towards rage appearing as the only way out for his frustration, as the story progresses. In that fashion, the sequences where he realizes Joo-hee and Dong-hwa’s true colors are probably the strongest in the film. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
13. Seoul Station (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016)
“Seoul Station” is a worthy prequel to “Train to Busan”, but can also stand on its own two feet. Its image of society is quite dark, cynical and overall pessimistic, mirroring its portrayal of human nature. Both films have managed to extend the concept of the zombie genre and have stayed true to the symbolic nature of it, turning it into a statement about human ignorance and the exclusion of the weak in our global society. (Rouven Linnarz)
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14. Shaman Sorceress (An Jae-hoon, 2020)
Amid all the paradoxes, An Jae-hoon’s animation captures the complexity of home-grown animation. Capturing a fictional story at the crossroads, “Shaman Sorceress” is a notable addition to the oeuvre of homegrown Korean animation. There is no one “better” or “worse” moment in Korean history, but only poetry in what has passed. (Grace Han)
15. The Story of Hong Gil-dong (Shin Dong-hun, 1967)
Hong Gil-dong’s legacy – reincarnated in various forms of literature and media for the last five centuries – still remains a timeless classic five decades after his animated debut. Shin’s film remains incredibly self-aware of its importance in the history of Korean cinema, strictly sticking to its Korean origins in story, visuals, and even in its ragtag cadence.(Grace Han)
16. My Father’s Room (Jang Na-ri, 2016)
The animated student film “My Father’s Room” brings us a tale of trauma, coping, and lasting consequences. Director Jang Na-ri based the story on her own experiences growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father. She developed a style that enabled her to tell her own story while transforming it into a universal one. This amalgam gives the film an urgency that one only rarely finds in graduation projects. Jang uses black-and-white pencil drawings to animate the story. Her style is characterized by graphite lines, shifting gray tones, and remarkable shadows. What stands out most are the creative transitions with scenes morphing into the next, and the visual metaphors that she applies. With hardly any monologue and little sound the film relies heavily on these metaphors to convey emotions and at the same time they provide the viewer with room for contemplation. Because of this, even though “My Father’s Room” does not shy away from raising uncomfortable questions, it found a wide audience at animation festivals all over the world. (Nancy Fornoville)
