In remembrance of the Korean War that resulted in the killing of several million civilians and the division of the Korean Peninsula, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea will screen films about the Korean War to mark the 70th anniversary this year at the Seoul venue in Jongno, central Seoul.

The “Unflattening Screening Series” will begin on Wednesday and run through Sept. 20, with 20 films being screened from Wednesdays to Sundays at MMCA Film and Video, the theater space at the Seoul venue. The films will be categorized into three sessions – “Traces of Memory,” “Future of Ruins,” and “Life and Bomb.”

The movie line-up includes a documentary film “Goodbye My Love, North Korea,” a story about eight young North Koreans who went to Moscow Film School in Russia to study after the Korean War, and “Memory of Forgotten War,” another documentary about four Korean-Americans who survived from the Korean War and share personal accounts about the military conflict that broke out in 1953. 

Besides the Korean War, films about other international or civil wars that raise awareness about the human cost of military conflicts will be screened. All movies will be played with subtitles in Korean or English.

The screening program runs concurrently with the exhibition “Unflattening” at MMCA Seoul that showcases some 250 works by 50 artists, including some who fought in the war. The exhibition also runs through Sept. 20.

The museum reopened July 22 as the COVID-10 pandemic has shown signs of easing in the Seoul metropolitan area. While online reservation at the museum’s website (www.mmca.go.kr) is recommended to visit the museum’s four venues-- Seoul, Deoksugung, Cheongju and Gwacheon, a limited number of visitors may be able register onsite.

The museum is closed on Mondays, and admission is free during the pandemic, according to the museum.


By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)