Urban Landscapes and National Visions in Post-Millennial South Korean Cinema

This book explores South Korean cinema’s inimitable relationship with the urban landscape and identifies the ways in which Seoul is utilised as a celluloid canvas, national artefact and, above all else, a distinctive cultural backdrop. Using five different approaches to urban space, from five distinctive and contrasting theoretical perspectives, Urban Landscapes in Post-Millennial South Korean Cinema investigates and seeks to understand why the cinematic representation, identity and presence of Seoul have been central to the preservation and recognition of the South Korean film industry as an independent, autonomous and nationally unique institution.
Gemma Ballard currently works as a lecturer in the School of East Asian Studies (SEAS) at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research background is in Film Studies and Film Theory. She is particularly interested in discussions around national and transnational cinemas, cinematic landscapes, genre theory and narratives of postmodernity. In 2021 and 2022, she presented her work at the prestigious International South Korean Women’s Cinema Conference and the Sheffield Centre for Research in Film (SCRIF).