Classic Korean films hit Youtube

The Korean Film Archive (KOFA) has announced that it is partnering with Google to put 70 classic Korean films on Youtube this May. The free video-on-demand films with English subtitles will be available for streaming here.

The line-up of films will range from director YUN Yong-gyu’s 1949 film about a child monk, A Hometown in Heart, to director HONG Sang-soo’s 1996 debut feature film The Day a Pig Fell in the Well. Other films include YU Hyun-mok’s Aimless Bullet (1961), Berlin Silver Bear award-winner A Coachman (1961), directed by KANG Dae-jin, KIM Ki-young’s 1971 classic Woman of Fire, SHIN Sang-ok’s A Flower in Hell (1958), JANG Sun-woo’s The Road to the Racetrack (1991) and IM Kwon-taek’s Son of General (1990) and Seopyonje (1993).

Including KIM Kee-duk’s The Barefooted Young (1964), seven of the 70 films will be available in high definition.

Subtitles in other languages will also be available with Google Translate.

In addition, KOFA announced it is planning to construct a second center for film preservation and restoration by 2014. The present archives in western Seoul are already full to the limit with materials. The new facility will be built in Paju’s publishing town, about 50km northwest of Seoul. The project has a total budget of KW33 billion (US$29 million). Construction will begin next year.

KOFA currently houses 4,187 feature films that were produced in South Korea. The new center will include a film preservation vault, an archival processing facility, a small theater or a film library and an office.