“Without democracy, there is no cinema, no culture…”

At the closing ceremony of the 29th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) recently in Bucheon City, South Korea which was hosted by actress Kim Joo-ryoung of the film “Sisterhood,” Festival Director Shin Chul emphasized the essence of freedom in the Korean film industry.

“We have come to realize that without democracy, there is no cinema, no culture,” he added. “Since the end of last year through today, we have all had a truly profound experience,” he said.

“Everything in the film industry is changing — and already has. It’s no longer a competition of capital, but one of imagination. That change is starting in Bucheon in 2025. I am confident that what happens in Bucheon this year will go down in the history of Korean cinema.”

He concluded by referencing “A Train with the Face of President Yoon,” the satirical cartoon that won the Gold Prize at the 2022 Bucheon International Comics Festival hosted by the KOREA MANWHA CONTENTS AGENCY. “After that, the agency’s budget was cut by 80%. It must be restored promptly so that we can continue our work. I will do everything I can to help make that happen,” he declared.

True, indeed, not only in Korea but all throughout the world.

In the Philippines, one of the impediments in the lackluster state of the local movie industry is censorship.

There are many good movies but many of them were censored if not banned by the state since time immemorial like Ishmael Bernal’s “Manila by Night” in 1980, Lino Brocka’s “Orapronobis” in 1989, Jose Javier Reyes’ “Live Show” in 2000 and many other outstanding artefacts.

Many Filipino filmmakers are in favor of enlightened censorship or total scraping of censorship.

If not cut or totally banned, there are local films which were disallowed to screen like Kristoffer Brazil’s “Lost Sabungeros” which is a foray into the missing Filipino cockfighting aficionados, a national issue by which the government and other stakeholders are investigating.

In my interview with prominent Korean film producer Jonathan Kim (“My Sassy Girl,” “Slimido,” “Ditto,” “To Catch a Virgin Ghost,” “Virgin Snow,” among others), he said that the Korean film industry has progressed so much when censorship was lifted from the industry.

“…Of course, up to the early ‘90s, Korea was dominated by Hollywood movies. However, with the constitutional court ruling of censorship being illegal in 1996, many subjects poured out that we could not deal with before,” said Jonathan.

I hope the Philippine government should be judicious and fair enough in classifying films or cutting portions from them.

Artistic freedom, especially done in good taste and for the benefit of the majority, is one way of achieving peace, reconciliation, harmony and success.