Series Site
November 13–14, 2026
Considered one of South Korea’s leading female auteurs, Yim Soon-rye has been actively making films since her debut, the 1994 short Promenade in the Rain. Her second feature, Waikiki Brothers (2001), a now-cult film about the lives and dashed dreams of a nightclub cover band in the Korean hinterlands, announced her as a talent to watch. This opened up new opportunities in a jaw-droppingly wide range of commercial filmmaking, ranging from the sports epic Forever the Moment (2008) (about the Korean women’s Olympic handball team), to the political thriller The Whistleblower (2014), the calming foodie film Little Forest (2018), and even the big-budget action film The Point Men (2023). According to several sources, she has now made more films than any other woman in Korean cinema history.
BAMPFA is honored to welcome Yim to present two of her most heartfelt, resonant works, Waikiki Brothers and Little Forest. “It’s been 20 years since Waikiki Brothers but people still tell me that they find comfort when they saw the movie today,” Yim recalled in a recent Tatler Asia interview. “When I also made Little Forest, some viewers told me that it allowed him to rethink and reposition their life, made them a more positive person and even felt healed after watching. I think this is the most rewarding part of my job.”
—Jason Sanders, Film Notes Writer