The Korean Film Archive (KOFA), hot off its recent bounty of news concerning the restoration of The Aimless Bullet (1961), their first Blu-Ray releases (The Housemaid [1960] and The March of Fools [1975]) and the revelation of their Top 100 Korean Films List, has announced that it is releasing a new eight-DVD boxset of family-themed films along with the support of the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

 

Released under the name ‘Family on Screen: Understanding Korean Society and Family through Films,’ the films will be made available in eight languages and distributed across 110 countries. The set will also be accompanied by a booklet in Korean and English. Features included in the collection spread from 1960’s Romance Papa by SHIN Sang-ok to LEE Han’s 2011 hit Punch. Other classics will include YU Hyun-mok’s Rainy Days (1979) and LEE Doo-yong’s 1984 drama The Oldest Son. Looking ahead to films following Korean cinema’s modern day boom, titles include KIM Je-woon’s The Quiet Family (1998), IM Sang-soo’s A Good Lawyer’s Wife (2003), KIM Tae-yong’s Family Ties (2006) and BONG Joon-ho’s The Host (2006).

 

The ‘Family on Screen’ collection is the second volume of the ‘Understanding Korean Society through Films’ project that debuted last year with the inaugural ‘Women on Screen’ edition. The DVD sets will be donated to various universities and museums around the world, while also being made available to the public though Korean cultural centers. Special efforts will be taken to make these collections available to viewers in territories such as South America, Russia and Africa, where Korean films are not well known.