Apologies for cross-posting. Please find the call for papers for *The
Origins of the South Korean Film Renaissance*, a 3-day conference to be
held at Lingnan University in Hong Kong SAR, November 2-4, 2023.




*The Origins of the South Korean Film Renaissance*

Lingnan University & University of Washington Joint Film Studies Conference



November 2-4, 2023, Hong Kong

Lingnan University & M+



Keynote Speakers:

KIM Hong Joon (Director, Korean Film Archive) & Industry Expert (TBA)



Queries to organizers:

Dr. Sangjoon LEE ([log in to unmask]), Lingnan University

Dr. Ungsan KIM ([log in to unmask]), University of Washington



When Park Chan-wook’s debut feature *The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream *was
released in the spring of 1992, the South Korean film industry had the
lowest domestic film market share in its history. From the 1970s through
the 1990s, the Korean film market, like the markets of many countries
around the world, was dominated by Hollywood. Local film critic Kim
Young-jin lamented, “The Korean film industry began in 1993 without a
single coin to inherit from the past, and in a state of self-examination,
embarked on a solitary battle for its very survival. It was a year
distinguished by steely resolve and a solitary, terrible fight for
survival.” The majority of film critics, students, and industry
professionals viewed the future of South Korean cinema as bleak.



Surprisingly, barely nine years later, South Korea became the first film
industry in recent history to reclaim its domestic market from Hollywood.
Soon thereafter, South Korean cinema entered its most iconic year in its
history. The year 2003 brought a wave of new South Korean films, including
*Oldboy*, *A Good Lawyer’s Wife*, *Save the Green Planet!*, *A Tale of Two
Sisters*, *Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring*, and *Memories of
Murder*. In 2004, the New York- based film magazine *Film Comment *published
its first special issue on Korean cinema. Chuck Stephens, the special
issue’s editor, commended South Korean cinema as “one of the greatest
renaissances in global filmmaking the world has ever seen.” Since then,
South Korean cinema made a history. Indeed, South Korean cinema provides
one of the most striking case studies of non-Western cinematic success in
the age of the neoliberal world order and Hollywood’s domination in the
global film market. What happened to the South Korean film culture between
1992 and 2003? How did what was once an “invisible” cinema become one of
the world’s most influential film industries so quickly? And what
implications does the South Korean film renaissance have for the ways we
approach national and transnational cinema more broadly?


Hosted by the Department of Digital Arts and Creative Industries at Lingnan
University in Hong Kong and co- organized by the Department of Asian
Languages and Literature at the University of Washington, *The Origins of
the South Korean Film Renaissance *will offer invaluable opportunities not
only to discover the resilient, persistent, and transformational power of
South Korean cinema but also to build a vibrant intellectual community,
where film and media scholars, filmmakers, journalists, and industry
experts collectively examine South Korean film cultures and industries in
the 1990s and early 2000s. The three-day conference will bring together
leading scholars and experts of South Korean and Asian cinemas from the
Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America to present their research findings
and new developments in methodology.



The conference will include approximately 12-15 academic papers and
roundtable discussions from 3-5 film critics, journalists, and industry
experts. Currently, we invite 15-minute presentation papers from scholars
and graduate students. Papers presented at the conference will be developed
and then considered for publication in a special issue of a high-ranking
peer-reviewed journal, and/or an edited volume with a major international
press.



*Possible topics include but are not limited to: *


Cinephilia and the post-1990s New Korean Cinema

International film festivals in South Korea, including BIFF, PIFAN, and JIFF

International film festivals outside South Korea and global reception of
South Korean cinema

Film education, film schools, and film institutes

Film journalism, including Cine 21, Film 2.0, Kino, Premiere, and Screen

Art cinemas and cinematheque movements

Film and media archives in Korea

New producers and the age of debut directors

Translations of film textbooks and the introduction of global film theories

Reception of Asian cinema in Korea

Short films and independent cinema

DV documentaries

Multiplexes and the demise of local double feature movie theaters

Cable TV and IPTV

CJ, Lotte, Showbox, and other media conglomerates

IMF Crisis and the Dot Com phenomenon

Women’s cinema and female filmmakers

Queer cinema and the emergence of LGBT+ activism

The rise and falls of VHS, DVDs, video rental shops, and the so-called DVD
rooms Globalization and transnational co-production



Accommodation (three nights for those from Asia-Pacific; four nights for
those from other regions) and meals during conference will be covered for
conference participants. Please submit a 300-word abstract and a brief
biographical note by April 8, 2023 to conference organizers Sangjoon LEE (
[log in to unmask]) and Ungsan KIM ([log in to unmask]). Participants will be
notified of acceptance by late April 2023.

*Ungsan Kim (**김 응 산**, he/him/his)*
Assistant Professor of Asian Cinema, Department of Asian Languages &
Literature
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Cinema & Media Studies
University of Washington
[image: A button with "Hear my name" text for name playback in email
signature]
<https://www.name-coach.com/ungsan-kim-e98e5c9c-3c02-4426-8494-ae50e1a5161e>

----
Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
https://screensite.org/