[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] Director Kim Jin-ah's new VR work "Soyosan" won the Best Work Award in the Virtual Reality Competition at the 27th Geneva International Film Festival.
The festival's jury stated in an official letter, "Director Kim Jin-ah's award-winning work 'Soyosan' provided a rare and precious, moving experience at the Geneva International Film Festival."
The winner of this award, called the Reflet d'Or for Best Immersive Work, receives a trophy along with a prize of 10,000 Swiss francs.
The Geneva International Film Festival previously awarded director Park Chan-wook the 'Film and Beyond' award in 2019. Director Kim Jin-ah's recent win marks a remarkable achievement for a Korean director after two years.
Celebrating its 27th edition this year, the Geneva International Film Festival established an official virtual reality competition category in 2014, showcasing works that maximize the artistic value of digital technology, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality.
"Soyosan," the only Korean work selected at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival and presented to audiences worldwide for the first time, focuses on the "Monkey House," a detention center where comfort women for the U.S. military were confined and treated. The Monkey House was a nickname for a detention center established by the Korean government in the early 1970s to isolate and treat women in military base towns suspected of having sexually transmitted diseases, operated with U.S. military medical technology and personnel.
Produced by Mass Ornament, well known as the producer of "House of Hummingbird," and the American company Scion Film, the work was completed with support from the domestic VR production company VentaVR.
Director Kim Jin-ah taught film theory and production at Harvard University and is currently a tenured professor in the Department of Film at UCLA. She received the Best Educator Award at Harvard University in 2014 and was selected as one of the top 10 film educators worldwide by Variety in 2018, gaining attention for her innovative education and creative activities.
The director's previous VR work, "Dongducheon," swept the Best Work Awards at prestigious film festivals such as Venice, Thessaloniki, and Bogota in 2017.
"Soyosan" will begin screening at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul in 2022 to meet domestic audiences. Additionally, it will be available through mobile augmented reality and showcased in metaverse virtual spaces.
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