Korean Film Archive Exhibition 'Yeonghwamungo... After 1980'
The first exhibition in Korea focused on film books is being held. From the 8th, the Korean Film Archive is hosting 'Film Library - A Chronicle of Film Publishing and Reading Since 1980' at the Korean Film Museum. It highlights the chronology of film publishing from 1980 to the present.
Unlike traditional publishing practices, film publishing has experienced fluctuations according to trends in film culture and popular film movements. Through this chronology, the Archive explores which films or directors Korean film audiences have focused on, what the key issues in the Korean film industry were, and how the relationship between film and popular culture was formed. Over 500 titles and more than 3,000 volumes of major film books published in the past 40 years, as well as currently distributed film books, are exhibited.
The most eye-catching section is 'A Series of Recommendations.' It features books recommended by directors Park Chan-wook and Jung Ju-ri, actors Go Min-si and Park Jung-min, writers Kim Jung-hyuk and Jung Seo-kyung, and critics Son Hee-jung and Jung Sung-il.
Director Park Chan-wook is a bibliophile. He has adapted novels into films such as Thirst, The Handmaiden, and The Little Drummer Girl. This time, he recommended five books including Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World. Park Jung-min, who runs a publishing company, selected seven titles, including Park Chan-wook's Montage, Ryu Seung-wan's True Colors, and Kim Hye-jin's About My Daughter.
Go Min-si recommended six books. One of them is Moon Mi-soon's The Way We Passed Through Winter, a story about a daughter who mummified her mother who passed away due to financial hardship. Go Min-si recalled, "The painful reality that society fails to protect such people was heartbreaking."
The Archive is also unveiling film books planned and produced by young graphic designers for the first time. The group Shinshin presents Handle-Book Classic, which collects only handle scenes from films; Jeong Sa-rok offers Group Portrait, which gathers only silhouettes of characters; and Bae Min-gi and Kim Myung-soo showcase Cuaron's Panning, accordion-style panorama books featuring panning scenes from Gravity and Roma, respectively.
An official said, "There is no act that reflects such intimate tastes and identities as reading books," adding, "What film books one has read is a way to understand the public psychology and culture of readers or film audiences regarding films." Admission is free.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
