Minister Yoon In-chon Presents Movies to the Visually Impaired

Attended Gachibom Film Festival... Watched 'Sopung' with Audio Description

Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is narrating movies for the visually impaired. On the afternoon of the 4th, he visited CGV Piccadilly 1958 in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where the Gachibom Film Festival was held, to watch 'Sopung' with live audio description. He also attended a Q&A session with director Kim Yong-gyun, who directed the film, and actors Na Moon-hee and Park Geun-hyung, who starred in it.

The Gachibom Film Festival is the oldest disability film festival in Korea, screening about thirty films either themed around disabilities or made with the participation of people with disabilities. 'Gachibom' is the name of the Korean subtitle and audio description service that means people with and without disabilities 'watch together'.

The special screening film 'Sopung' was released in February and attracted 350,000 viewers. It tells the story of two friends, who are also in-laws, traveling together to their hometown Namhae after 60 years and revisiting memories from when they were sixteen. For this festival, a Gachibom version was produced for joint viewing by people with and without disabilities.

To this end, Minister Yoo recorded the audio description at the recording studio of the Korea Blind Union on the 7th of last month and gathered on-site opinions regarding cultural enjoyment rights for people with disabilities. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Film Council support the Gachibom Film Festival annually and promote the 'Korean Subtitle and Audio Description Production and Screening Project' for the visually and hearing impaired. Since last year, they have been piloting simultaneous support for pre-production and simultaneous release of Korean subtitle and audio-described films.

Minister Yoo said, "We will strive to create an environment where people who are relatively excluded from cultural enjoyment, such as people with disabilities, can freely enjoy excellent K-content."