KOFIC Reaffirms Its Commitment to ASEAN-ROK Film Cooperation

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KOFIC Reaffirms Its Commitment to ASEAN-ROK Film Cooperation

Nov 03, 2020

Writerby Fabien Schneider
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ASEAN-ROK Film Partnership Virtual Conference 2020 held by KOFIC

On October 28, the Korean Film Council (Chairperson OH Seok-geun) held the ASEAN-ROK Film Partnership Virtual Conference 2020(ARFP 2020). This conference, which was presided over by Jonathan TAN Ghee Tiong, Head of the Culture and Information Division at the ASEAN Secretariat, was attended by 30 officials from the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and Korea, including delegates from Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Mission of the Republic of Korean to ASEAN. The participants took this opportunity to reaffirm their determination to develop solidarity and cooperation in the film sector.

This conference was initially intended as an in-person event but, as is now par for the course amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, was later changed into a video conference owing to travel restrictions in place across Asia. Held amidst ongoing efforts by each of the participating countries to help their film industries recover after the sanitary crisis brought them to a standstill, this virtual meeting was also the occasion for the participants to share the challenges the movie sector is facing in their respective countries and to examine possible measures to foster solidarity among countries affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

This conference was attended by KOFIC Chairperson OH Seok-geun, while the ASEAN countries were represented by a 20-member strong delegation comprising the chief officers from the relevant government ministries of each of the 10 ASEAN members and the heads of their respective film organizations. They all reaffirmed their determination to form a mutually beneficial international solidarity despite the current health crisis.

Spread over the course of three hours, the conference started with a presentation of the progress made towards setting up an ASEAN-ROK film organization, followed by the examination of several topics on the agenda discussion of various topics on the agenda pertaining to this project. Each country was then invited to share their position regarding the necessity of cooperation for the region’s film industry as well as their opinion about establishing this film collaboration project through an ASEAN-ROK Film Partnership agreement. The passionate discussion ended with the film institutions of the 11 countries agreeing to a follow-up meeting to sign the ASEAN-ROK Film Partnership agreement.

This was the fourth meeting between representatives of the ASEAN countries and Korea to be organized by KOFIC since 2018 regarding the establishment of a joint film organization. KOFIC has also strived to lay the foundations for future collaboration by listening to film professionals in Korea and Southeast Asia via cultural exchange programs specifically intended for them, such as international co-production networking events and panel discussions.

KOFIC and the respective film agencies in ASEAN are expected to meet again before year end in order to sign the ASEAN-ROK Film Partnership agreement.

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