Korean Film Biz Boosted by Cannes Picks
variety.comRebecca Souw Four films, “Decision to Leave,” “Broker,” “The Hunt” and “No Return” selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival shed rays of hope for a positive uptake in the Korean film industry, severely damaged due to the COVID pandemic.
Juxtaposed against a fruitful run in 2019, the year Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” won the Palme d’Or, the massive slow down of the industry saw box office sales plummeting, sizable shrinking of the business, theater closures and a backlog of unreleased filmsAt last year’s Busan Film Festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market veteran film director Park Chan Wook said the release date for “Decision to Leave” was uncertain and as no one is rushing, the team is constantly retouching parts of the film.
Now with a paradigm shift in consumer habits, what does the road to recovery look like? Park Giyong, chairman of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), says: “The model where moviegoers watch films at scheduled times at a cinema has collapsed.
The COVID era has changed habits in a way where people now watch anywhere, at any time.”He adds that while losses are heaviest for conventional players who stuck with traditional business models, the clear winners are platforms and creators.Eugene Kim, co-executive producer for “The Hunt’’ says, “I believe it was most important to create good content consistently without giving up in spite of the market conditions.” Productions proved to be arduous globally but Korean producers remained resilient in the challenging landscape.Since the pandemic, KOFIC established the COVID-19 special support funds in a bid to revive the film industry.
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