Now is the Era of Cultural Discourse Ailing Film Industry—How the Korea-France 'Lumière Alliance' Can Illuminate the World
In the early 2000s, when the Korean film renaissance was unfolding, the global stage—not confined by the logic of capital—consistently offered profound praise for the sharp "wildness" and originality that Korean cinema embodied. It was thanks to the vision of masters like Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, and Lee Chang-dong, and the dynamism of an ecosystem where large capital and non-commercial artistic spheres maintained balance.
However, in recent years, the current in Korean film circles has shifted dramatically. Diagnoses from industry insiders paint a uniformly bleak picture. Declining theater attendance, the monopolistic market restructuring by global OTT platforms, and the emergence of generative AI capable of producing scripts and visual content in mere seconds are shaking the very foundation not just of Korean cinema but of the global audiovisual industry. Capital has become extremely conservative, and the space for original experimentation is rapidly disappearing.
Within this downturn, news from Saint-Paul-de-Vence in southern France has cast a weighty topic into the cultural sphere. It is the launch of the "Lumière Partnership" announced on the 7th (local time) as President Lee Jae-myung and French President Emmanuel Macron presided over the "Lumière Summit." The scale alone—a massive 1.6 trillion won (1 billion euros) to be invested over five years—draws attention, but what merits greater focus is the symbolism of "Lumière" presented in the opening remarks.
This partnership, named after the Lumière brothers, who introduced cinema to the world for the first time in 1895, goes beyond a mere financial collaboration. Along with the message that "constant innovation and creativity are the key to transforming crisis into opportunity," it carries a cultural declaration aimed at protecting human creative rights amid technological upheaval and reviving the roots of independent and art house cinema.
The combination is deeply significant: Korea's technological and content capabilities as a key hub of the AI supply chain, coupled with France's expertise in traditional art film policy. It is akin to erecting a genuine cultural breakwater on a global film landscape swept up in capital logic. The industry particularly looks forward to the prospect of widening the corridor for Korean creators to access the global stage through European tax incentives and distribution networks.
Yet one cannot refrain from adding a sober warning from the perspective of someone who has long observed the currents of the film industry. This is because film history has witnessed countless instances of grandiose funds and splendid declarations between leaders ultimately failing to translate into tangible experiences for working creators and disappearing without practical effect.
The massive seed funding of 1.6 trillion won must not be diverted toward the interests of major production companies or large OTT platforms; rather, it must seep down to the grassroots of independent film and the rooms where young directors are still burning the midnight oil writing screenplays. For the promise of "becoming a reliable partner to independent cinema" to bear fruit, meticulous guidelines for fund distribution must be accompanied by substantial follow-up work in domestic legal and institutional reform.
In French, "Lumière" means light. Just as the Lumière brothers first cast the light of cinema upon the world, we hope this Korea-France partnership will become more than a one-time news story—a genuine "light of salvation" for an industry trudging through a dark tunnel. We look forward to the day when the originality of Korean cinema, which the world applauded two decades ago, becomes a light unto itself, illuminating all the screens of the world once more.