Question:
Scores of Stars Mobilize to Fight against Quota Cuts
Top Korean movie stars including Moon Geun-yeong, Lee Na-young, Lee Byung-hun, Jeon Do-yeon, and Hwang Jung-min took to the streets to protest against the government's decision to halve the nation's screen quota. A great number of celebrities from the film world gathered in front of the Donghwa Duty-Free Shop at 2 in the afternoon on Wednesday in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, to stage a movie workers' demonstration to halt the culture invasion and defend the screen quota to the very end!
During the demonstration, some 100 Korean movie stars including Kang Dong-won, Kim Sun-a, Kim Su-ro, Kim Hee-seon, Park Hae-il, Paek Yoon-shik, Sul Kyung-gu, Song Yoon-a, Shin Min-a, Yum Jung-ah, Ye Ji-won, You Sun, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Joon-ki, Zo In-sung, Ji Jin-hee, Cha Tae-hyun, Choi Min-sik, and Han Chae-young caused quite a stir, as they shouted the slogan Fight for the Screen Quota!. The movie workers' countermeasures committee declared Wednesday the Korean Film Production Suspension Day and some 1,000 students and members of various film-related organizations including the Actors Association, Movie Directors' Union, Korea Film Producers Association were in attendance.
Large cranes used in film shooting were mobilized to the demonstration site, and more than ten pickets that read Crush the Roh Administration that Sells Away the Screen Quota.”. The demonstrators marched up to Myeong-dong Cathedral at around 4 p.m. after the rally in Gwanghwamun.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
'Old Boy' Returns Medal in Screen Quota Protest
The actor Choi Min-sik has returned a government decoration in protest against Seoul’s decision to halve the number of days reserved in theaters for Korean movies. Staging a one-man protest on Sejong Street in front of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the actor said the decision to halve the screen quota was “tantamount to a death sentence for Korean film. He said the medal, once a symbol of pride, was now “nothing more than a sign of disgrace, and it is with a heavy heart that I must return it.
The actor, who came to international notice with his role in the prize-winning movie “Old Boy,” was as good as his word. In the early afternoon, he handed the medal and accompanying certificate in at the Ministry's first-floor information desk while holding a picket that read, No screen quota, no Old Boy.
Choi was awarded the Og-Gwan Order of Cultural Merit in honor of his role in the movie, which won Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 2004. A ministry official said there was no stipulation providing for the return of an order of cultural merit. “We will keep it and give it back to him later,” he added. Choi walked across to the Kyobo building at Gwanghwamun intersection and continued his one-man demonstration.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
Korean Filmmakers Protest against Screen Quota Cut
A group of Korean filmmakers staged an overnight rally on Wednesday against the government's planned cut of a quota for domestic movies in local theaters.
Some 100 screen actors, directors and producers gathered in downtown Seoul saying the reduction, to be implemented in July, will hurt the development of the Korean movie industry. They argue that without the protectionist measure Korean movies couldn't have taken up more than a 50-percent share of local box office.
The filmmakers also pointed to Hollywood's production of some 800 movies a year compared to Korea's 70. Members of Korea's film industry also plan to hold a large-scale demonstration next week to drum up public support.
Arirang News
Celebrities act up over film quota
February 09, 2006 ㅡ About 2,000 people demonstrated from 2 p.m. yesterday at the Gwanghwamun intersection in downtown Seoul against a government compromise with the United States on the screen quota for South Korean films.
Top actors Ahn Sung-ki, Jeon Do-youn, Choi Min-shik and Kim Hee-seon, and directors Bong Jun-ho and Im Kwon-taek participated in the demonstration.
The protesters were also joined by local civic groups, actors' and directors' guilds, students and others.
During the protest, movie-industry workers signed a resolution stating their united stance to protect the present screen quota system.
Participants ended the rally around 4 p.m. and held a candlelight protest around Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral, to which they had marched.
The motion picture industry has been protesting since the government's announcement on Jan. 26 that it would halve the screening protection it gave to domestic motion pictures.
Under the new system, movie theaters will be required to screen domestic films for 73 days per year, instead of the present 146 days.
The industry cited the quota as a key component in the box-office successes of domestic films and said that lowering the quota will only serve the interests of Hollywood.
The new screen quota system is planned to go into effect in July of this year.
To offset the reduced screen quota, 400 billion won ($400 million) of subsidies to local film industry over five years has been promised.
by Yang Seong-hui jainnie@joongang.co.kr
Answer:
Cutting and pasting what I wrote from the KPhoto section, because I wrote a lot:
And yet when China doesn't show Memoirs of a Geisha, it's attributed to communism.
There is unfairness in it, but America is just being a bit of a bully in this instance.
That being said, Moon whatsever name looks so much prettier now than in Autumn Tale. Wow.
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America is joking right? If american movies are so great... why cant they compete with the korean movies. Oh, wait... this year i saw about 4 korean movies and 0 american movies. Reason? cause the best movie from hollywood right now is Underworld : Evolution.... wtf!
If American movies were so bad, these stars would have nothing to fear. Instead they look as if their closest relative just passed away. They know their future isn't secure if the American movies come in.
I'm pretty annoyed with the people at this thread. Just because a bunch of celebrities are fighting for the cause, doesn't mean it's a just one.
It's a form of censorship in a way isn't? Think of your favorite American movie you saw this year, one that you had been looking forward to for a long time. For me I had several, like Batman Begins, RENT, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chronicles of Narnia Pride and Prejudice, etc. Think about how you'd feel if you weren't allowed to see them on the big screen.
...I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I don't think America should force its wares on other countries, but I do think SK's laws are really, really strict on this, which is why America has target them specifically, and part of the reason why the Korean wave is so popular now. Other countries let the Korean stuff in, but Korea doesn't really let Jap/Chinese stuff pass through. They need to play fair.
Imagine if you weren't allowed to see your favorite Korean dramas because America had laws about it, etc? How would that make you feel?
