Anyone who hasn't noticed that Korean cinema is on a roll hasn't been paying attention. But Korea's successes at home and abroad with both mainstream commercial movies and arthouse titles threaten to obscure the achievements of the country's independent film-makers -- which are no less impressive. Independents are by definition less visible than mainstream film-makers, but Korea's film culture could not have become as strong as it is without solid foundations in the independent sector. It's because Korea's current generation is full of cineastes (who want to make films) and cinephiles (who want to see them) that Korean cinema has reached critical mass.
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but none of this would have happened without the political change of 1993 : the shift from military to civilian government, the consequent relaxation of censorship, and the opening up of the country and its culture to the rest of the world. Korea's young people were given a unique opportunity a decade ago to reinvent their own culture -- and to do so in the light of a new awareness of what was going on in other societies and cultures. To their great credit, they seized the opportunity with both hands. As of now, they show no sign of letting it slip from their grasp.
This week of recent, cutting-edge independent work spans all areas of film-making: narrative features and shorts, documentaries, digital images, animation and experimental or non-narrative film. Here are films which broach previously taboo subjects alongside films which look at social and sexual issues with a new rigour and honesty. All they have in common is a shared desire to use the language of film to the full -- to say things which haven't previously been said. Just listen!

Tony Rayns
(film critic, programmer of Korean Independent Cinema 2004/U.K.)
2004 The Agency for Cultural Affairs. ALL RIGHT RESERVED