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In 2013, while trying to get in contact with director Lim Tae-young for a DVD release, Korean Film Archive (KOFA) heard that Union Media Company’s CEO HAN Gyu-ho owned a large collection of archived films. Union Media Company, which ran during the 70s, was a collaborative institution where ten different organizations came together to work as a single distribution company. However, after business came to a stop for Union Media Company, HAN Gyu-ho kept the remaining films in his personal storage. Upon getting in contact with HAN, KOFA visited the storage in November of last year and spent two months to restore and identify them. On March 11th, HAN agreed to donate 94 new feature films to KOFA’s library as well as 356 copies of preexisting films, for a total of 455 films.

 

Out of the new features, the oldest dates as far back as NO Pil’s 1949 film, Pilot Ahn Chang-nam. Although only the first third of the film was collected, it is a noteworthy discovery. HONG Eun-won’s Yeo-pan-sa (1962) and CHOI Ha-won’s Trees Stand on Slope (1968) are some of the other finds. The new library also includes works of Korean auteurs LEE Man-hee, IM Kwon-taek, JUNG Jin-woo, and KIM Soo-yong. Although there are still many missing titles, the new catalogue added films to the weaker 50s to 70s library, and is nonetheless a big accomplishment for KOFA and the history of Korean cinema. The collection is titled the ‘HAN Woo-seop and HAN Gyu-ho Collection,’ named after the father and son who donated the films.