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Director Kim Ki-duk, who won the Silver Bear award for Best Director at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival for his latest feature ¡°Samaria,¡± said Monday that he is happy about a Korean low budget film getting the international spotlight through this film festival.
¡°I¡¯m happy because by winning this award I will be given a chance to run a film production in Europe, and it's fortunate that I no longer have to worry about how to promote this film, produced at a small cost of W500 million without casting stars,¡± Kim said during a press conference in Seoul.
Kim was in Paris, attending the debut of his Blue Dragon Award-winning film, ¡°Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter," when he was informed about winning the Silver Bear. ¡°I don¡¯t think they gave me the award because of 'Samaria,' alone. They seem to be evaluating me, through the work I¡¯ve done so far, as a director with a unique style. Actually, one critic told me that my films depict characters committing cruel crimes and social evils, yet he couldn't hate those characters,¡± Kim recalled.
Asked about the reason why he made a film about teenage prostitution (¡°Samaria¡±), he said, ¡°There are about 600,000 female prostitutes in Korea, and about 600,000 fathers of prostitutes. These fathers also buy sex from others¡¯ daughters. Therefore, there is no simple criminal-victim relationship. They are all accomplices in this crime.¡±
Kim said that ¡°Samaria¡± is a film worth watching by both parents and children, so he will ask the government to revoke the film¡¯s rating banning those under 19 from seeing it. Kim¡¯s next work, titled ¡°Yuri,¡± will deal with the story of a Korean girl who is adopted and grows up in Europe.
(Song Won-seop, five@sportschosun.com )
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