KOFIC awards marketing support for arthouse/digital films

The Korean Film Council has announced the recipients of the first phase of its 2006 Marketing Support for Arthouse and Digital Films fund. The fund provides financial support to arthouse works or digital features to promote diversity on the nation's screens and to help such films compete in a marketplace with increasingly stringent commercial demands.

In the case of arthouse films, 50 million won (~$54,000) will be provided to pay for advertising and other kinds of marketing costs, including the cost of striking prints for release. In Korea's competitive distribution environment, low-budget works face a particularly difficult struggle in getting noticed by viewers, and so this fund is intended to provide assistance in this area. A total of 8 features were submitted for consideration

In the case of feature-length digital films, 25 million won (~$27,000) will be provided towards the rental of a DLP digital projector, so that such works can be screened in their original format. In this manner, the distributor can avoid the cost of transferring a film from digital to a 35mm print. A total of 9 features were submitted for consideration.

The following films were chosen on the basis of their overall quality and their chance of securing a theatrical release.

Arthouse films:

"Meeting My Wife's Lover" (Film Line), dir. Kim Tae-sik
"Texture of Skin" (East Film), dir. Lee Seong-gang
"Don't Look Back" (Emotion Pictures), dir. Kim Young-nam

Feature-length digital films:

"Silk Shoes" (Ori Production), dir. Yeo Gyoon-dong
"Between" (documentary) (Film Messenger), dir. Lee Chang-jae

The films were chosen by a five-member jury including professor LEE Choong-jik, director Min Byeong-hoon, director Daniel H. BYUN (Byeon Hyeok), JIFF programmer JEONG Su-wan, and distributor JO Hong-seok.

Another round of marketing support will also be awarded in the second half of 2006. For more information, contact KOFIC's Domestic Support division.

Darcy Paquet (KOFIC)