Cannes board throws support behind S. Korean screen quota

Catherine Almeras, Cannes board member and concurrently head of France's actors union and vice president of the International Federation of Actors.

CANNES--The campaign to maintain a screen quota for domestic film in Korea, meaning that a set percentage of films released theatrically must be home-grown, was given a new boost here as the board of directors of the Cannes Film Festival voted unanimously to pass a declaration of support for the quota program.

Korean actor Choi Min-sik said about the decision, "It shows you that people in film around the world recognize that our fight for a screen quota is not about a bigger piece of the pie for film professionals."

Public protests during the festival by Choi and others from Korea were given prominent coverage in the French daily l'Humanite.

Cannes board member Catherine Almeras, head of France's actors union and vice president of the International Federation of Actors, played a critical role in bringing about the declaration. The Hankyoreh spoke with her Tuesday.

Hankyoreh: How did Korea's screen quota become part of the board's agenda?

Almeras: The idea of issuing a declaration occurred to Pascal Rogard of the French Coalition for Cultural Diversity while he was at a public gathering of Korean film professionals during the festival. Leaders of France's performance art union wrote a draft. I showed the draft to festival president Giles Jacob and suggested we discuss it as part of the agenda, and then I read it when the board met. Jacob seems to be familiar with Korea's quota program, and I think the fact that Korean actors held public protests for three days during the festival contributed to people's awareness. Theater owners sometimes have different interests, but they all supported the declaration as well.

Hankyoreh: It could have been politically risky, because the United States opposed the quota and the Korean government has decided to reduce it.

Almeras: I have been part of the board at the festival for twenty years, and this was the fifth time we have done something like this. There were issues that were much more serious than this. The decisions we make are not always good for the governments of the countries involved. I understand that the Korean government is not in favor of the quota because of U.S. pressure, but did not the Korean government sign the international convention on cultural diversity? My hope is that it would not act in a contradictory way and in that sense I think our declaration may help it stand up to the U.S.

Im Beom, [e-mail]