Korean Rotarian enjoys a second career in film

 

 

Not many people start a new career at age 75, but after the debut of his short film at the Asiana International Short Film Festival in November, Dong Ho Kim is hooked: He already has plans to direct three more.

Kim, a member of the Rotary Club of Seoul-Yejang, Korea, spent most of his career – nearly three decades – in the Korean Ministry of Information and Culture, later becoming head of the Korean Film Council. A champion of the Asian motion picture industry, he oversaw the establishment of the first large-scale film studio in Korea.

In 1996, he cofounded the Busan International Film Festival and made it into the largest event of its kind in Asia; in 2012, it showcased 304 pictures from 75 countries, including a North Korean film as well as six from Afghanistan that had been hidden inside a wall during the Taliban regime.

After retiring in 2010, Kim founded a graduate school of film at Dankook University, where he continues to serve as dean. His short film, Jury, is about the jury at a film festival and is based on the years Kim spent on juries around the world, including at Cannes. Kim’s upcoming pictures will be titled Audience, Guest, and Volunteer.