Culture Minister Attends Disability Film Festival, Watches "Picnic" with Audio Descriptions

연합뉴스 / 2024-09-04 13:21:16

▲ This image, provided by the South Korean culture ministry, shows Minister Yoo In-chon recording audio descriptions for film "Picnic." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- On September 4th, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Yoo In-chon will attend a special screening at the 25th Gachibom Film Festival.

According to the ministry, Minister Yoo will visit CGV Piccadilly 1958 in Jongno, Seoul, where the festival is being held, to watch the film Picnic, which features audio descriptions that he personally recorded.

Following the screening, the minister will participate in a conversation with the audience, alongside the film's director Kim Yong-gyun and actors Na Moon-hee and Park Geun-hyung.

Organized by the Korean Association of the Deaf, the Gachibom Film Festival is the oldest disability film festival in South Korea. It showcases over 30 films either focused on disability or involving people with disabilities in their production.

"Gachibom," meaning "watching together," is a service that provides Korean subtitles and audio descriptions to ensure that both people with and without disabilities can enjoy films together.

The special screening of Picnic is a "Gachibom" version of the film, which attracted 350,000 viewers after its release in February. To prepare for this, Minister Yoo recorded audio descriptions for the film last month at the recording studio of the Korean Blind Union, where he also gathered feedback on cultural accessibility for people with disabilities.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, along with the Korean Film Council, annually supports the Gachibom Film Festival and promotes the production and screening of films with Korean subtitles and audio descriptions for visually and hearing-impaired audiences. Since last year, they have also been piloting simultaneous production and release of films with these features.

Minister Yoo emphasized, "We will continue to work towards creating an environment where people with disabilities and others who are relatively excluded from cultural experiences can freely enjoy excellent K-content."