[Op-Ed] A Tax-Funded Film Festival in the Red Should Be Shut Down After Review

More Than 40 Film Festivals Run on Tax Money While Struggling with Chronic Deficits

Cases Found of Crony Appointments, Closed Organizational Operations, Hiring of Relatives, and Excessive Wage Payments

France’s Cannes Film Festival Posts Annual Surpluses of KRW 10 Billion and Generates KRW 300 Billion in Economic Spillover Effects

America’s SXSW Film Festival Charges Participation Fees and Earns KRW 180 Billion in Total Revenue

Records of festivals appear in the Samgukji-Weishu Dongyi-zhuan, which contains accounts of ancient Korean history on the peninsula. During seasonal rites, the people of Goguryeo and Buyeo drank, ate, and danced every day, mingling regardless of class or status, and even releasing prisoners so they could join the festivities. Considering that around 3,000 festivals are held in Korea each year, it seems our ancestors’ festival DNA has been well passed down.

If our ancestors enjoyed themselves by drinking and dancing, modern festivals have become truly varied and colorful. Film festivals are one type of festival. People attend them to enjoy independent and foreign films that are not easily available at ordinary multiplex theaters. Festivals such as the Seoul Eco Film Festival, Changwon Eco Film Festival, and Seoul International Women’s Film Festival also attract those interested in agendas such as the environment and women’s rights.

One group voiced dissatisfaction over the 2024 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism budget for film festivals. The Film Festival Solidarity took issue with a 50% cut in the budget for the project supporting domestic and international film festivals. It complained that the government intended to reduce the number of film festivals receiving taxpayer support from 40 to 20. At a National Assembly discussion on the Film Development Fund held on August 1, one film industry figure argued that budget cuts had reduced the number of supported festivals from 40 to 11, threatening the very survival of Korean film festivals.

Many people would likely be shocked to learn from these claims that as many as 40 film festivals have been operating on tax money. The Busan International Film Festival, Korea’s leading film festival, received more than KRW 7 billion annually from the Busan Metropolitan Government for 27 years, while the Jeonju International Film Festival received KRW 3.5 billion last year from Jeonju City and Jeollabuk-do. What is noteworthy is that despite the massive amount of taxpayer money poured into both festivals every year, both suffer from chronic deficits.

If an event is run with tax support, it should be well managed, yet examples to the contrary keep emerging. The Busan International Film Festival has been repeatedly criticized for crony appointments and closed organizational management. The Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, which received KRW 3.9 billion in tax funding last year, was found during an audit to have hired relatives and paid excessive wages, resulting in a KRW 500 million deficit.

How are overseas film festivals run? France’s Cannes Film Festival, renowned worldwide, also receives government tax support. Cannes operates on a budget of KRW 40 billion—three times that of the Busan International Film Festival—but generates annual revenue of KRW 58 billion, producing a surplus of more than KRW 10 billion every year. Moreover, the festival’s economic spillover effect on the local economy reaches KRW 300 billion.

America’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival began as a private-sector venture. Participants must pay a participation fee of KRW 2 million. This high-price strategy has worked, generating USD 40 million annually from participation fees alone, while total festival revenue reaches USD 140 million, or about KRW 180 billion.

Comparing Korea’s film festivals with France’s Cannes Film Festival, from one of the world’s great film nations, may sound somewhat harsh. It is also uncertain whether SXSW’s high participation-fee strategy would work in Korea. Nevertheless, Korea’s film festivals, which are operated with massive taxpayer support while leaving almost no profit, need to carefully analyze these two festivals. Going forward, tough measures are needed, such as reducing the number of festivals receiving support through a screening process. It is to be hoped that ways will be devised for each festival to achieve financial self-reliance without depending on tax money.

Korean films such as Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry, and Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy have earned global recognition. It cannot be denied that domestic film festivals served as an incubator for these achievements. But Korea’s film festival environment, with its high dependence on public finances, must change. It should become the kind of joyful festival our ancestors enjoyed—one in which everyone is happy, rather than a situation where some enjoy the films while others are left worrying about the finances.

Sungil Kang, Intern Researcher, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: [칼럼] 세금으로 운영되는 적자 영화제, 심사 후 정리되는 게 마땅

Author: Seong-il Kang

Date: 2024-12-11

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=free_opinion&idx=27158