The Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) is at the core of Korean film industry. Not only did it nourish directors like Bong Joon Ho, CHOI Dong-hoon and KIM Tae-yong, YOON Sung-hyun of Bleak Night and HONG Seok-jae, who won the DGK (Directors Guild of Korea) Award and the NETPAC Award at the Busan International Film Festival this year with Socialphobia, are all graduates of this institute. KAFA, a leading film educator of Korea at the front line, welcomed its new head, YU Young-sik. YU recently debuted with a Korean-Chinese joint film The Arnachists and has actively collected experiences from shifting between direction and production. Upon his new appointment he said, “It is the moment for KAFA to take its first step to the world as a prestigious school.”

 

- You look very busy. How long has it been since you were appointed?
It’s been a week. I was appointed to the position and started working on November 12th. There are some urgent works I have to attend to and I didn’t have time to get used to my workplace yet. My seat has remained empty since CHOI Equan left in September, so there is a pile of documents waiting for my approval. But things have been running quite smoothly. I even thought maybe I might be interrupting everyone else. (Smiles) On top of that, I have to go through application documents because we are selecting new students for 2015 admission, which keeps me up at night.

 

- You seem much younger compared to your predecessors.
No, not really. The previous director CHOI Equan is the 11th graduate of the school and I’m the 9th, so he is a couple of years younger than me. Well, PARK Ki-yong, the one just before him, is the third graduate, so I could say I’m young in that sense.

 

- The status of KAFA has recently risen. Some say there are two types of Korea films; films made by KAFA graduates and films by the others.
A lot of directors such as E J-yong, HUR Jin-ho, IM Sang-soo and Bong Joon Ho have graduated from our academy. The ratio of our graduates in the film circles has gone even higher these days. Over 50% of independent films and above 60% of commercial movies in the Korean box office are made by KAFA graduates. At KAFA, students who finish their first year which is composed of 4 quarters, study feature films in the second year. We have run the feature study course for 8 years so far, where students have made feature films every year. We receive scenarios from graduates as well to make 3 feature films and an animation. This is a great system. Bleak Night and Socialphobia were also made through the same process. It was another useful way of spreading word about KAFA.

 

- Being the head of KAFA is probably as important as becoming a leader in the Korean film industry. Isn’t it a burden on you?
All I can do it work hard. (Smiles) Having taught films at universities, I came here for a certain reason. It is because KAFA is the vanguard of Korean film industry. I thought I would enjoy taking the lead in teaching advanced films to students if I can discover students and work on founding a film education system. This idea delights me. The system at KAFA has been diversified, so I suppose it’s time for us to solidify this good system. If I’m allowed to be greedier, I want to make the academy one of the best film schools in the world.

 

I don’t think so. It is not easy to decide to boldly invest in film education and train great human resources when the industry is in a difficult time. Film schools are greatly influenced by the rise and fall of the related industry. The popularity among applicants also depends on the industrial trend. While there were about 160 film related courses in the past, the number went up to about 300 as the industry boomed in the early 2000s. However, it decreased again and only about 100 of them are left now. The market seems to be bouncing back, but the profit is not distributed among everyone related, like how it used to be. Naturally the number of students is currently declining. What is interesting though is that the competition rate to enter KAFA is the same as before. This is a very important point. Nobody comes to our school without determination. They all are willing to devote their lives to films. Furthermore, they are excellent students. I regret that I cannot open the door for every single one of them. So it is a desirable situation for the film industry if different film schools co-exist and work together..

 

- Do you have any goals as a new head?
The best thing about KAFA is that we are not obsessed with existing curricula and do not have consciousness of authority, so we can act fast to change our curricula in the way students want. We also study and produce 3D films and ScreenX (a technology that enables theaters to utilize the two sides as screens along with the front screen) contents. Besides, if we add up 40 films made yearly at KAFA+ Masterclass, a program for filmmakers to make short, medium length and feature films, our school is not much different from a large production company. Films we made meet audiences at theaters or through IPTV services. I think refining the industrial adaptability of the films is my role. With the experience I gained from managing a film studio for 20 years, my personal aim is to achieve market success with KAFA films. If this goal is realized, KAFA will be a top class film school not only in Korea but in the world.