KOFA Discovery and Restoration Part 1
Date : 2026.06.16.Tue ~ 07.08.Wed
Since opening in 2008, Cinematheque KOFA has consistently presented Korean films restored and rediscovered by the Korean Film Archive, alongside a wide range of restored works from around the world through its annual Discovery and Restoration program. This year, we once more offer a rich selection of films, some meeting audiences for the first time in decades and others inviting us to revisit them from a fresh perspective.
In an age when countless moving images are rapidly consumed and forgotten, constantly competing for our attention, the experience of immersing oneself fully in a single film within the darkness of a movie theater feels more special than ever. We hope this year's festival will provide an opportunity to rediscover films once thought lost and uncover unexpected treasures hidden within film history.
May these films, revived after decades of obscurity, bring new excitement and inspiration to contemporary audiences.
Part 1 presents a diverse lineup of newly restored and rediscovered works from Korea and abroad. Part 2, scheduled to begin in late July, will feature the sections 'In Memoriam' and 'Techniscope & Technirama.'
Section 1. KOFA Restorations: Against War, For Peace: Scars and Memory
At a time when wars continue across the globe, revisiting the scars of war in modern Korean history is not merely an exercise in remembering the past. This restoration program presents five films that confront the enduring wounds left by war and its aftermath. From The DMZ (1965), filmed on location in the actual Demilitarized Zone, to Shiri (1999), which ushered in the era of the Korean blockbuster; from That Winter Was Warm (1984), a quiet reflection on the trauma of separated families, to North Korean Partisan in South Korea (1990), the first Korean film to portray communist guerrillas as human beings; and R-Point (2004), depicting the psychological disintegration of Korean soldiers deployed to a foreign war. Damaged film prints can be restored to their original form. But can lives after war also be restored? The scars of war do not disappear simply because they are hidden or forgotten. Remembering and confronting them may be the slowest path toward peace, but perhaps also the surest.
Special Events
June 18 (Thu), 2:30 PM — Shiri screening followed by a Guest Visit (GV) with director Kang Je-gyu and Kim Seung-kyung of the Korean Film Archive.
June 19 (Fri), 5:00 PM — That Winter Was Warm screening followed by a GV with director Bae Chang-ho and Bae Dong-mi (Cine21 journalist).
June 23 (Tue), 3:00 PM — R-Point screening followed by a restoration talk, “Restoration A to Z,” presented by KOFA's Restoration Team.
Section 2. KOFA Restoration Shorts: The Spirit of the Times, A Resistant Gaze
While War and Peace, Scars and Memory reflects contemporary concerns, this shorts program consists of films that directly observed and documented the spirit of their own eras through the camera lens. Five short films capturing university campuses, labor movements, and the harsh realities of capitalism in the 1980s and 1990s are brought together in a 103-minute program:
At the Threshold of Winter (1989)
Mobius’ Daughter (1981)
Simultaneously (1998)
Accessory Parts (1986)
Incoherence (1994)
The program also offers the pleasure of tracing the beginnings of filmmakers and actors who would later become major figures in Korean cinema—from actor Choi Min-sik’s screen debut to director Bong Joon-ho’s graduation film from the Korean Academy of Film Arts.
Section 3. KOFA Rediscoveries: Completing the Puzzle
The digitization project launched through KOFA’s 2022 partnership with KBS has also been an effort to recover missing pieces of films that had survived only in incomplete versions. This year's rediscovery program presents four works that have either been newly digitized or have never before been screened by the Archive:
Freezing Point (1967), directed by Kim Soo-yong
There Is No Despair (1968)
Three Daughters Only (1972)
Mrs. Rat (1972)
Centered on family life, these home dramas reveal a variety of emotional and narrative textures. Although some imperfections remain in image and sound quality, the chance to finally see these long-unavailable films makes this a particularly welcome occasion.
Section 4. KOFA Rediscoveries: Geumgangsan - A Lost Landscape
Another major focus of this year's rediscovery program is the Archive’s international acquisition efforts. Scenic Mount Kumgang in the Northern Part of the Korean Peninsula, discovered in 2025 at the National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ), is an approximately eight-minute documentary film shot in the 1930s. It captures some of the most celebrated landscapes of Inner Kumgang and Sea Kumgang. In 2026, these locations remain inaccessible to most visitors, making this screening a rare opportunity to encounter the region through images recorded nearly ninety years ago. Beyond serving as a travel record, the film is also a valuable historical document that reflects both the perspective of its era and the realities of colonial Korea. The archivist responsible for acquiring the film will discuss the circumstances of its discovery and its ethnographic and geographic significance, offering audiences a richer understanding of the many meanings contained within this brief but remarkable work.
Lecture
June 20 (Sat), 5:00 PM — Screening of Scenic Mount Kumgang in the Northern Part of the Korean Peninsula followed by a lecture by Kim Seung-kyung, Acquisitions Team, Korean Film Archive.
Section 5. World Restoration
This section presents ten films restored by archives and institutions around the world, alongside a contemporary documentary on film archives. From John Ford’s silent Western Three Bad Men and Gustav Machaty’s provocative Czech erotic melodrama Ecstasy to Govindan Aravindan’s poetic Indian docufiction Thampu (The Circus Tent) and Hsu Chin-liang’s pioneering Taiwanese coming-of-age film The Fellow Who Refused College, these works span diverse historical periods, cinematic traditions, and cultural contexts. This lineup showcases the achievements of meticulous digital restoration efforts undertaken by archival institutions across the globe, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Narodni filmovy archiv (National Film Archive of the Czech Republic), the Film Heritage Foundation, and the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI). In particular, John Ford’s Three Bad Men, celebrating its centenary, and Sidney Lumet’s Network, marking its 50th anniversary, offer especially meaningful opportunities to revisit these landmark works on the big screen today. Finally, Santiago Seine’s All You Need to Make a Film Is a Gun follows restored film materials and the material traces of filmmaking itself, recovering forgotten histories while reminding us that film preservation is, in essence, an act of historical restoration.
Films
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