The Actor's Mirror: Ahn Sung-ki and
the Female Lineage of Korean Cinema
The 13th Montreal Asian International Film Festival (MAiFF), formerly the Korean Film Festival Canada (KFFC), proudly co-presents this free online retrospective of 15 films curated by the Korean Film Archive (KOFA), celebrating Korea's beloved "National Actor" Ahn Sung-ki, who passed away on January 5, 2026, at the age of 74. Across nearly 200 films and six decades, Ahn starred alongside the most important directors of Korean New Wave cinema — Im Kwon-taek, Bae Chang-ho, Lee Jang-ho, Lee Myung-se, Park Kwang-su, and Chung Ji-young — becoming the defining face of a cinema that transformed itself in one of the most turbulent and creative periods in Korean history. This retrospective honors his legacy by looking at the 15 films he appeared in through a fresh lens: the remarkable female actors who shared his screen, and the stories of women's lives that these directors brought to the world.
Spanning from Mandara (1981) to Festival (1996), these films trace fifteen years of profound social and political transformation in Korea—from the Gwangju massacre of 1980 and the democracy movement of 1987, through rapid industrialization and the birth of a bold new Korean cinematic language—all reflected in the lives of women on screen. Among the female performers featured are Jeong Yun-hee in The Fog Village , Lee Mi-sook in Whale Hunt , Kang Soo-yeon in Whale Hunt 2 , Shim Hye-jin in The Island of Whales, and Oh Jung-hae in The Taebaek Mountains and Festival. These are all women whose performances embody what Koreans call Han: a grief, longing, and resilience shaped by the history of a divided nation that speaks to audiences everywhere.
All 15 films are available to watch for free online by clicking on the buttons below. This program is part of MAiFF's ongoing partnership with KOFA, first initiated by Arts East-West in 2020 as one of the first organizations outside Korea to collaborate with KOFA in bringing thematically curated Korean classic cinema programs directly to Western audiences for easier and more accessible thematic navigation. We are proud to carry that initiative forward, and warmly invite cinephiles, students, researchers, and curious viewers across Montréal and beyond to discover — or rediscover — this extraordinary body of work. For the full list of films, screening details, and more, please visit the Arts East-West website first, where you will find everything you need to explore this retrospective and connect directly to KOFA's YouTube channel to watch. This year, MAiFF also celebrates the 30th anniversary of Arts East-West — three decades of building a bridge between Asian cinematic heritage and audiences in Canada and beyond. We extend our sincere gratitude to Director MO Eun-young, Head of Programming KIM Bongyoung, Programmer JU Hye-n, and the whole team at KOFA for their generous collaboration and dedication.
Program Notes: Mi-Jeong Lee, Artistic Director, Arts East-West | Scholar of Asian Cinema
Film Descriptions: Stacy Jung, 13th Montreal Asian International Film Festival (MAiFF)
