Korean cinema lessons for Egyptian

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South Korean cinema reached a historic peak with the film “Parasite” by Bong Joon Ho, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2019, and then four Oscars in 2020, including Best Picture, becoming the first non-English language film to win this award. This is an exceptional breakthrough for the first time in the language barrier in front of world cinema, but how did Korean cinema reach this advanced level that made it a fierce competitor to Hollywood? We must look into the reasons, perhaps some of them are stimulants for Egyptian cinema, which is suffering greatly these days. Korean cinema reached its position because it built an integrated industry based on talent first, its tools being freedom, financing, training, market protection, and distribution.

The biggest transformation since the late eighties and during the nineties was the beginning that expanded the space of freedom for directors. With the democratic transition, resistance to censorship escalated, and in October 1996 the Constitutional Court there ruled that the prior film review system was unconstitutional. Then other reforms continued, and this helped expand the topics that could be addressed, such as tyranny, corruption, class disparity, and painful history. The restrictions did not disappear all at once, but the space for expression expanded.

Korea introduced institutional financing and professional management, allowing major companies, such as Samsung, to enter the field of film financing in the 1990s. Then investment funds and distribution companies expanded. The film became a project that begins with development and planning, and the budget, audience, marketing, and exploitation rights are calculated for it. The investment included developing ideas from their early stages, which allowed for more diverse cinematic experiences and genres. It implemented the “screening quota” system, which obliges cinemas to allocate part of their days to Korean films. The quota reached 146 days. Annually, then it was reduced to 73 days in 2006. This gave local productions space to face foreign competition and build its audience.

The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) was reorganized in 1999 with the aim of strengthening policies to support cinema and respect the freedom of its workers. It contributed to financing mechanisms that pooled public money and private investment. Professional producers and new companies emerged, and opportunities were created for new directors. The Busan Festival was launched in 1996 to introduce the world to Korean cinema, and then platforms developed around it to support projects and connect their owners with industry partners. Its makers mixed crime with black comedy and horror with social drama, and presented Korean problems in exciting stories that would be understood by an audience outside Korea. This mixing of genres became a sign of its international appeal. Talent needs freedom, funding that is patient with developing the idea, a screen that allows the film to meet its audience, and distribution that carries it abroad.