Mayor Lee Yong-seop Holds Video Meeting with Local Filmmakers

Network Development Utilizing Local Assets Such as Gwangju Theater

On the morning of the 23rd, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, listened to difficulties and suggestions during a video meeting with local filmmakers held in the city hall video conference room. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] On the 23rd, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held a video meeting with local filmmakers as the second schedule of the ‘Special Cultural and Arts Week’ to listen to the voices of cultural artists who are struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting, held in the city hall video conference room using a video conferencing system, was attended by seven members of the Gwangju Video and Film Promotion Committee, including Kim Ji-yeon, Chairperson of the Gwangju Film and Video Artists Association, who explained the current status of the local film industry and proposed support policies.

The filmmakers especially requested ▲ operation of citizen education and enjoyment programs for the film city of Gwangju ▲ fostering a unique film festival in Gwangju utilizing local resources such as the Asia Culture Center, Gwangju Theater, and independent cinemas ▲ establishment of long-term film industry policies including film archiving ▲ building an employment and startup ecosystem in the film and video sectors ▲ securing educational spaces related to film ▲ setting up a control tower to coordinate the use of resources such as the National Asia Culture Center ▲ and expanding support for short films.

They also urged active efforts to create youth jobs to prevent the outflow of talented local individuals to the Seoul metropolitan area.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “Recently, works created by filmmakers from Gwangju have received favorable evaluations at various domestic and international film festivals, showing remarkable achievements,” and added, “We will establish a network utilizing excellent local resources such as Gwangju Theater to devise ways to revitalize the film industry.”

He also stated, “We will prepare and announce cultural and arts support measures reflecting the opinions of filmmakers soon,” and requested, “I ask for the active cooperation of filmmakers so that in-depth policies can be prepared.”

Meanwhile, on the 24th, Mayor Lee plans to visit Yangnim-dong Craft Specialty Street, where visitors have sharply decreased due to COVID-19, tour resident workshops, and explore cultural sites by watching a traditional Korean music regular performance with local artists to listen to their difficulties.

Meanwhile, the Gwangju Video and Film Promotion Committee is composed of representatives of film-related organizations active in Gwangju, film directors, production companies, and film experts, and serves as an advisory and deliberative body for major matters related to the promotion of the video and film industry.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.