Making Korean Films: Production Studies and Changing Production Cultures

Julian Stringer, Associate Professor, Film and Television Studies, University of Nottingham

South Korea's commercial film industry has transformed itself over recent years into an internationally competitive market leader. This transformation has entailed the upgrading of technologies of both production and consumption, an increased professionalization of film-making practices, the penetration of new markets for Korean film and a concomitant building of confidence and ambition among creative personnel. Illustrated with relevant audio-visual examples, this talk will consider key components of contemporary South Korean cinema's changing professional environments and aesthetic characteristics. It will do this by providing an in-depth analysis, based on original interviews, of the work of some of the country's leading filmmakers. 

Julian Stringer is Associate Professor in Film and Television Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK. He has published widely on Korean and East Asian cinemas and is co-editor of New Korean Cinema (Edinburgh UP/New York UP, 2005) and The Korean Cinema Book (British Film Institute/Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming). He recently organized academic conferences at Shanghai Expo (2010) and the China National Film Museum, Beijing (2011).