Korea lifts movie ban

[Aaron Gerow]

It was announced in quite big headlines in the Japanese newspapers that 
the South Korean government has officially announced a proposal to 
gradually lift the current ban on importation of Japanese popular 
cultural products into Korea, a ban that currently prevents the 
commercial release of Japanese films.  (Up until now, the only Japanese 
films shown in Korea have been either through festivals like Pusan or 
through bootleg videos.)  If the proposal passes the Korean assembly, 
some Japanese films can be shown as early as next month.  For now, 
however, the partial lift of the ban will only cover the following two 
sorts of Japanese films: 1) co-productions with Korea (with Koreans in 
either leading roles or directing); 2) Japanese films that have won 
awards at major international film festivals like Cannes.  Such films 
include _Kazoku shinema_, _Unagi_, and _Hana-Bi_.

The partial lift will thus not have much of an immediate effect on the 
Japanese film industry, but with Japanese manga already popular in Korea 
(in translation), and with some filmmakers like Iwai Shunji enjoying cult 
success through bootleg videos, the potential market for both live action 
and anime films is large.  It is not clear, however, how long it will 
take for the partial lift to become a complete one.

Aaron Gerow
Yokohama National University
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