The Korean Film Archive (KOFA; ), or the Korean Federation of Film Archives, is the sole film archive in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
with nationwide coverage. It was founded in
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
in 1974 as a non-profit organization. In 1976 KOFA joined the
International Federation of Film Archives
The International Federation of Film Archives (, FIAF) was founded in Paris in 1938 by the Cinémathèque Française, the Reichsfilmarchiv in Berlin, the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
FIAF brings togethe ...
(FIAF) as an observer, and gained its full membership of FIAF in 1985.
KOFA's main duties are to collect, preserve and categorize films and film-related materials, as well as to foster accessibility to its collections. Most of remaining originals and copies of Korean films are preserved in KOFA. Its main center is in
Sangam-dong
Sangam-dong () is a legal '' dong'' (neighborhood) of Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea. In the wake of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, a large apartment complex and DMC business district have been created and developed into the center of western Seoul. ...
, Seoul, with two local branch centers in
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
and
Bucheon
Bucheon (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Bucheon is located away from Seoul, of which it is a satellite city. It is located between Incheon and Seoul.
Bucheon is the second most densely populated city in South Korea after Seo ...
, and a secondary preservation center in
Seongnam
Seongnam (; ) is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. It consists of three administrative districts: Bundang District, J ...
. Its main center has several public facilities, including Cinematheque KOFA,
Korean Film Museum, and a reference library. Recently KOFA has concentrated on digitization of Korean films, and has published several features of the Classic Korean Cinema DVD Collections. It also operates the most reliable online database of Korean films,
as well as an online film streaming service.
History
It was established as a Korean film storage center in 1974 in Namsan-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, and moved to Seocho-dong in 1990. Since 1991, it has been renamed as Korea Media Center by foundations. It was reorganized into a special corporation based on the Motion Picture Promotion Act in 2002. It built its own building in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu in May 2007 and formally reopened in the following year. It is composed of auxiliary and restored facilities equipped with an anti-air and photo-related facility for preserving film and other materials, Cinema Tech that provides movie screening and current affairs services, and a cinema that illuminates Korean film industry through the exhibition of film related materials. It is a member of the International Federation of Film Executions (FIAF) regular members, who hosted the Federation General Meeting in Seoul in 2002. It is a public organization for cultural services under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Korea government.
Functions
The archive provides the following services:
* Film Collection and Categorization
* Film Preservation, Restoration and Digitization
* Film Screening and Referential Services
* Publication of Academic and Referential Resources
* Operation of Online Databases on Korean Cinema
KOFA Film Collection Search*
Korean Movie Database
The Korean Movie Database (KMDb; ) is a South Korean online database of information related to Korean movies, animation, actors, television shows, production crew personnel and other film-related information.
Overview
KMDb was first published ...
online
* Operation of the Korean Film Museum
Blu-ray releases
To coincide with its upcoming 40th anniversary in 2014, KOFA started releasing restored Korean classic and lesser known films on Blu-ray.
One of the criteria for release of the films is their place in TOP 100 Korean films list (although there has been some films released in later years that are not on the list).
The Housemaid,
Aimless Bullet and
The March of Fools received equal number of votes and they occupy the first place.
See also
*
International Federation of Film Archives
The International Federation of Film Archives (, FIAF) was founded in Paris in 1938 by the Cinémathèque Française, the Reichsfilmarchiv in Berlin, the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
FIAF brings togethe ...
*
Cinematheque
A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...
*
Cinema of Korea
The cinema of Korea encompasses the film industries of North Korea and South Korea, as well as the historical film industries of Korea as the kingdom of Joseon and under Korea under Japanese rule, Japanese occupation. While both countries have re ...
References
External links
Korean Film Archive websiteKorean Film Video On Demand
{{authority control
Film archives in Asia
Archives in South Korea
Film organizations in South Korea
1974 establishments in South Korea
Arts organizations established in 1974
FIAF-affiliated institutions