Park Ki-yong is to step down as chairperson of the Korean Movie Council (KOFIC) and revealed he’ll make a return to filmmaking to assist the nation’s movie business “regain its type”.
The transfer isn’t sudden as his two-year time period ended on January 8 however a successor has but to be appointed and Park remained within the position till right this moment (January 31) as KOFIC continues to hunt a alternative.
Because of this, the government-funding assist and promotion company will function beneath an ‘performing system’ till the subsequent chairperson is elected, led by KOFIC vice chairperson Kim Seonah.
“For the previous two years, I’ve been working with the movie business, the Nationwide Meeting, authorities officers, and the employees of the KOFIC to beat the most important disaster going through the Korean movie business within the aftermath of the corona pandemic, however I really feel a heavy accountability to depart with out seeing Korean cinema make a comeback,” he stated at a retirement ceremony on Monday. “I’ll now return to being a filmmaker and assist Ok-movie regain its type.”
Park took workplace in January 2022 and notable achievements throughout his tenure included securing $60m (KW80bn) for the nationwide movie growth fund, which is maintained by a proportion taken from cinema ticket gross sales and was closely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The fund was additional bolstered earlier this 12 months when Park helped safe $22.5m (KW30bn) from Korea’s sports activities fund and a further $4m (KW5.4bn) from the nation’s lottery fund.
Chatting with Display screen in October, Park acknowledged that the Korean movie business was in “a dire scenario” with a backlog of unreleased movies stopping new titles from securing financing.
After consulting throughout the business, he’s credited with main main coverage agendas resembling ‘holdback’ and ‘theatre ticket costs’ for the expansion of the movie business. On the finish of final 12 months, Park secured permission to construct a filming studio in Gijang-gun, Busan – a long-awaited KOFIC undertaking – and contributed to taking step one in the direction of the studio’s building.
He additionally led the launch of the Asian Movie Alliance Community (AFAN), a collective of movie organisations from seven Asian international locations, and the institution of the Korea-France Movie Academy. In recognition of this, Park was awarded the Order of Advantage in Could final 12 months by the French Ministry of Tradition, recognising people for his or her contributions to the tradition and the humanities worldwide.
Park plans to return to work subsequent month as a professor of the function movie manufacturing division at Dankook College’s Graduate Faculty of Arts and Tradition, the place he labored earlier than his appointment.
Park is called a producer of movies resembling 1993 historic warfare drama To The Starry Island by Park Kwang-su.
As a director, his movies embody the Busan New Currents Award winner Motel Cactus (1997), on which Bong Joon Ho was screenwriter, and Camel(s), which gained the Grand Prix at Fribourg Worldwide Movie Pageant along with screening at festivals resembling Toronto and Berlin.
He was additionally head of the Korean Academy of Movie Arts from 2003 to 2009 and head of the Cinema Digital Seoul Movie Pageant from 2006 to 2009 in addition to in 2012.
In a press release, KOFIC stated that after the 2 successors of Park and one other council member have been appointed, the company will elect a brand new chairperson.
