Park Chan-wook | 2003 | South Korea | 120' | EN subs

Filmhuis Cavia and film curator Nilesh Kumar invite you to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the South Korean modern classic Oldboy (2003) by Park Chan-wook. A screening of the film followed by a presentation and a Q&A session with you.

In 1995, the US government removed the last restrictions on the internet, allowing it to reign globally for (non-military) commercial use. From then on through the late 1990s and early 2000s this technological advancement saw huge changes in society and culture. The South Korean blockbuster Oldboy contains and relishes in all of these technocultural changes. We firstly look at the techno-cultural changes taking place from 1995 to the early 2000s, and how they were interpreted by certain filmmakers and media at large. Secondly, we will see how these influences are integrated into Oldboy, making it a transnational entity diverging it from a historically common allegory in South Korean cinema. In the final section we look at the protagonist’s flee for innocence from the murky techno-concrete matrix of this new globally connected world.

Nilesh Kumar is from England, of Gujarati-Indian background, and is based in South Korea. He is a film curator and co-founder of the Seoul-based underground-movable cinema, STEAK FILM and the sexuality-themed underground cinema and gallery, STEAK CINEMA. He is currently pursuing an MA in Korean Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, focusing on (Korean and East Asian) Cinema. This may lead to a PhD soon. His work has been included at Cinema Galeries in Brussels, Soho House Mumbai, Perpetual Spring in MMCA Seoul, and the Canadian Film Centre. His latest exhibition is currently on the 20th Anniversary of Oldboy at Cinema Galeries in Brussels - from 21st September to 17th December 2023.