The year 2024 has seen a remarkable rise in the contributions of female filmmakers in the South Korean film industry.
According to the 2024 Gender Equality Report released by the Korean Film Council on the 7th, the South Korean film industry has shown positive changes with some improvement in gender balance.
An analysis of 182 films released in 2024 revealed that the percentage of female key creative personnel included 48 directors (24.0%), 90 producers (25.6%), 85 production managers (35.0%), 91 lead actors (48.1%), 75 screenwriters (34.7%), and 20 cinematographers (8.9%). Compared to the previous year, the proportion of women in all roles increased, and participation rates rose in all fields except for directing.
Furthermore, an analysis of 37 commercial films with a production budget of over 3 billion won also showed an increase in the percentage and frequency of female personnel in the roles of director, producer, and screenwriter.
Among the observed increase in female personnel in the released films, the inclusion of five films directed by women in the category of commercial films with a production budget exceeding 3 billion won is particularly encouraging.
Excluding the animated film "Yumi's Cells: The Movie," the other four films include "Pilot" by director Kim Han-gyeol (ranked 4th), "Citizen Deok-hee" by director Park Young-joo (10th), "She Died" by director Kim Se-hwi (13th), and "The Love Law of Big City" by director Lee Eun-hee (17th). All of these films made it into the top 30 of the Korean box office based on audience numbers, demonstrating strong commercial success.
The mid-level Korean films directed by women are creating new success stories in the 2024 film industry, indicating a potential expansion of opportunities for female creators in commercial cinema.
In terms of character representation from a gender and diversity perspective, there has also been progress. Among the top 30 films based on audience numbers in 2024, 16 films passed the Bechdel Test, accounting for 59.3% of the 27 films analyzed. This is the highest percentage since the gender statistics were first reported in 2017, suggesting a quantitative increase in female characters in leading and supporting roles in South Korean commercial films.
However, when examining the complexity of female characters through the stereotype test, it was found that 44.4% of the analyzed films depicted stereotypical female characters, indicating that despite the quantitative increase, the portrayal of female characters still tends to be one-dimensional.
In contrast, the participation of female personnel in OTT original films has generally decreased, showing a different trend compared to the theatrical releases. Among the six OTT original films analyzed, only one, "Rogiwan," directed by Kim Hee-jin, had a female director, and there were no films with female lead actors.
Three out of the six OTT original films passed the Bechdel Test, a significant drop compared to the average pass rate of 84.6% in 2022-2023. The representation of female characters in 2024's OTT original films appears somewhat flat compared to the previous year.
While some improvements in gender balance can be found in the 2024 theatrical releases, limitations still exist. A comprehensive look at the gender ratio among key creative personnel (directors, producers, production managers, lead actors, screenwriters, cinematographers) shows that, excluding lead roles, the participation rate of women in all other roles in commercial films does not exceed 30%. Notably, the cinematography field has recorded zero female cinematographers for three consecutive years in both commercial and OTT original films, highlighting the ongoing absence of women in this role.
ebada@sbs.co.kr
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)