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The first Korean film to be ever acknowledged with an award outside Korea was in 1957 at the 4th Asia-Pacific Film Festival, when The Wedding Day (1956) received the Comedy Prize. The 1950s was when Korean cinema was slowly rising, overcoming the aftermath of the Korean War. Although the Asia-Pacific Film Festival was not exactly focused on competition but was more on terms of friendship promotion, this award became a symbol for hope and potential for Korean cinema in the world market. The Wedding Day was also presented at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival.

Berlin International Film Festival was launched after the births of Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, but it has a more significant relationship with Korean cinema. Whereas Cannes and Venice look for artistic and experimental aspects of cinema, Berlin values films with political and historical contexts, which provided favorable circumstances for what was called the third world cinema. The first good news from Berlin International Film Festival came in 1961. The Horseman (Kang Dae-jin, 1961) was invited to the competition section and received a special award equivalent to the Silver Bear prize. The Horseman features struggle, despair and hope of the people in early 1960s, when Korea was just headed for modernization. Kim Seun-ho, playing the main role of the horseman in the film, who showed his best performance ever in this film and became the icon of a Korean father. In the following year, in 1962, Shin Sang-ok’s Till The End of My Life (1960) also received a prize in the competition section: a child actress Jeon Young-sun received a special prize for a child role, who also appeared as Ok-hee in Mother and a Guest by the same director.

 

The great performance of Korean cinema in the early 1960s unfortunately did not last very long. Korean cinema produced masterpieces like The Housemaid (1960), The Aimless Bullet (1961), Mother and a Guest and The Horseman, but that became to a quick end. Except for Late Autumn (Lee, Man-hee, 1966) which screened in Berlin, no remarkable performance was seen in the 1960 to the 70s. However, Korean cinema came back on track in the 1980s. The first was Im Kwon-taek, with Mandara (1981) in the Panorama Section. His debut was in the early 1960s and made a variety of films without an auteuristic signature till the mid 70s. Im made auteristic films with Wangshimni (1976) and Genealogy (1978). Mandara was a breakpoint for his film career. This film provided a platform for his name in the international film festival milieu. Based on these achievements, he finally entered the competition section in 1986 with Gilsodom (1985). It features interesting issues of the war and division which may appeal to foreign viewers. Back then, Germany was also divided in the West and East, hence increasing interest in the issues in Gilsodom. It presents the tragedy of a family caused by the Korean War and division, without appealing to emotionalism. It maintained a rational and critical perspective on the tragedy of the war and division, rather than forcing tears and melodrama. In 10 years, Im is invited again in the competition section in 1995 with The Taebaek Mountains (1994), another film dealing with the Korean war and division. In 2005, he received The Honorary Golden Bear at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival.

In the 1980s, Korean cinema did well in the competition section and the forum section. As well as Gilsodom mentioned earlier, Ha Myung-joong’s Blazing Sun (1984) entered the competition section as well. The Forum Section is especially favorable for young cineastes, and Lee Jang-ho’s Declaration of Fools (1984) and The Man With Three Coffins (1987) were screened. In 1988, The Man With Three Coffins received the Caligari Film Prize. It was the first award in a quarter of century since Till The End of My Life received a special prize at Berlin. In the following year, 1989, a new trend in Korean cinema was internationally acknowledged, which is later to be called the Korean Wave. Seoul Emperor (1986) co-directed by Jang Sun-woo and Sunwoo Wan, Park Kwang-su’s Chil-su and Man-su (1988), Kim Dong-won’s documentary Sangae-Dong Olympic (1988) were screened in the Forum Section. All these three pieces were deeply saturated with the problematic political situation of the 80s Korea.

 

In 1994, Jang Sun-woo’s Hwa-eom-kyeong (1993) received the Afred Bauer prize, named after the first festival director of Berlin International Film Festival. Since the mid 90s, Korean cinema’s visit to Berlin became increasingly frequent. In 1996, Park Kwang-su’s A Single Spark (1995) was in the competition, and in 1997, HONG Sangsoo's The Day A Pig Fell Into A Well (1996) and Im Soon-rye’s Three Friends (1996) were invited to the Forum, and Park Chul-soo’s Farewell My Darling (1997) was invited to the Panorama Section. In 1998, the performance of independent documentaries was remarkable, including Habitual Sadness 1 and 2 (1995, 1997) depicting the issue of comfort woman, Kim Dong-won’s Six days Fight in Myong-Dong Cathedral (1997) featuring the June Uprising in 1987, Cho Sung-bong’s Red Hunt (1997) examining the Jeju April 3 Incident, which has been a banned issue in Korea, and On-Line: An Inside View Of Korean Independent Film (1997) illustrating the history of Korean independent documentary.

 

In 2004, Kim Ki-duk received the Silver Bear prize with Samaritan Girl (2004). It is the biggest achievement Korean cinema ever made at Berlin. Park Chan-wook entered the competition section in 2001 with Joint Security Area and received the Alfred Bauer prize in 2007 with I`m a Cyborg, But That`s OK (2006). Since the mid 2000’s, Korean cinema has been present in all sections and all genres. Berlin International Film Festival is definitely among the venues where Korean cinema has a significant presence today.

By CHUNG Young-kwon(Film Critic)