Only 1 out of 35 commercial films helmed by female director last year

Only one out of 35 Korean films of a certain scale was directed by a female director last year, a report showed Thursday.

The action thriller "The Point Men," directed by Yim Soon-rye, was the sole movie helmed by a female director among the 35 commercial films with a production budget exceeding 30 billion won (US$2.25 million), according to the report released by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) on the status of gender equality in the Korean film industry.

The state-run movie promotion agency has been publishing the report every year since 2017. The ratio of female directors hit the lowest last year.

The number of female producers stood at 22, or 23.9 percent; female lead actors were at nine, or 25.7 percent; and female screenwriters came to 12, or 21.8 percent. There were no female cinematographers.