35% of Korean films lost to history
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Of the 5901 Korean films produced since the 1910s, a total of 2039 films are no longer in possession, according to a report by the Korean Film Archive.
The figures were cited by majority lawmaker Lee Jeong-hyun in a call for more funding to support efforts to locate lost Korean films. Currently, there is only one full-time position in the Korean Film Archive devoted to film recovery efforts, and the budget for such activities is limited to 100 million won.
Despite this, an increasing number of Korean films have been discovered in foreign archives and private collections in recent years. In 2006, prints of 11 films were discovered in the US, China, and Russia and an additional two prints were located in Korea. In 2007, 15 prints were discovered in Taiwan and Hong Kong plus one additional print in Korea. So far this year, a print of Korea's first animated feature Hong Gil-dong (1967) was discovered in Japan.
However there are still no remaining copies of any of the 68 films produced before 1930. Only five of the 73 films produced in the 1930s still exist, and only 14 of the 90 films produced in the 1940s are available. In the 1950s, only 50 films remain out of a total 307. In total, only 12% of the Korean films produced before 1960 are in the Korean Film Archive's collection.
Darcy Paquet (KOFIC)
The figures were cited by majority lawmaker Lee Jeong-hyun in a call for more funding to support efforts to locate lost Korean films. Currently, there is only one full-time position in the Korean Film Archive devoted to film recovery efforts, and the budget for such activities is limited to 100 million won.
Despite this, an increasing number of Korean films have been discovered in foreign archives and private collections in recent years. In 2006, prints of 11 films were discovered in the US, China, and Russia and an additional two prints were located in Korea. In 2007, 15 prints were discovered in Taiwan and Hong Kong plus one additional print in Korea. So far this year, a print of Korea's first animated feature Hong Gil-dong (1967) was discovered in Japan.
However there are still no remaining copies of any of the 68 films produced before 1930. Only five of the 73 films produced in the 1930s still exist, and only 14 of the 90 films produced in the 1940s are available. In the 1950s, only 50 films remain out of a total 307. In total, only 12% of the Korean films produced before 1960 are in the Korean Film Archive's collection.
Darcy Paquet (KOFIC)
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