The independent and artistic film field recently can be seen as a year when the "Documentary" genre stood out. According to Korea's independent art film Box Office from January to October 2022, 10 of the top 30 films were documentaries. Domestic docum...
The independent and artistic film field recently can be seen as a year when the "Documentary" genre stood out. According to Korea's independent art film Box Office from January to October 2022, 10 of the top 30 films were documentaries. Domestic documentary films, which began in a form separate from power and capital, are being produced in combination with various genres according to the changes of the times, and their autonomy in form is increasing through diverse distribution channels. However, the documentary field is on the verge of death in a challenging environment where production and distribution are carried out without external support due to high dependence on the public support system.
The objective of this study is to explain the process of documentary gaining status as a culture and art for feature-length documentary films. Furthermore, it is to expand into various areas according to environmental changes, to clarify the justification for documentary support to be converted through a frame of culture and art support, and to suggest ways to revitalize the documentary field. In this process, it is believed that the state has the basis for supporting culture and arts from a public perspective close to culture and arts for the public interest. The Korean Culture and Arts Commission, which promotes Korean culture and arts, identified and solved the problem by establishing a sustainable creative environment and field-oriented support system, forming a social consensus on culture and art value. This would be applied to the support system of documentaries with aesthetic and social values.
To identify the problems of the documentary support system, the current status of public-private documentary support programs was investigated, and in this process, the direction and value of each institution, including the Korean Film Council, were confirmed. In general, the support program was provided through production support. It was judged that help such as advanced education support, audience development, and networking enhancement needed to be revised compared to the total support. Therefore, this study proposes a revitalization plan using the frame transition of culture and arts support by paying attention to the relationship between support programs and the documentary field, among various factors, to revitalize the area.
First, it proposes a plan to subdivide production support programs using 'the Joy of Creation.'
Second, it proposes a plan to develop an Impact program using 'Diffusion of Value.'
Last, it proposes a plan to prepare a private-sector linkage program through 'Partnership Pursuit.'
This way, the justification for understanding documentaries as culture and arts through the frame of culture and arts support was confirmed. The documentary support system was transformed into an effective way to preserve and promote documentaries' social and aesthetic value. It improved the international status of domestic documentaries by creating and revitalizing a sustainable field.
Continuous research will continue revitalizing the documentary field in the future with the preparation of primary data on documentary support programs and the shift of awareness to culture and arts.