Making an Im Kwon-taek film without Im Kwon-taek? ... Choi Hwi-young: “We are finding the answers together”

[Financial News] Choi Hwi-young, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, watched a film that used artificial intelligence (AI) to recreate director Im Kwon-taek’s filmmaking style and voiced his support for filmmakers reflecting on the future of Korean cinema. He highlighted the significance of efforts to explore both how far AI can express an artist’s originality and the possibilities and limits of the technology.
On the 6th, Choi posted on social media a message sharing his impressions of visiting the 2026 National Academy of Arts, Republic of Korea Film Showcase. He attended the showcase’s opening ceremony that day at the Seoul Film Center in Jung District, Seoul, and met with filmmakers, including director Im.
Choi described the event as “a place where senior and junior filmmakers are wrestling together with the future of our cinema.” In particular, he said he had viewed the process and results of an experiment titled “Making an Im Kwon-taek Film Without Im Kwon-taek,” in which AI learned director Im’s filmmaking grammar and style to create new footage.
He went on to explain that the aim was “to reflect deeply on how far AI can express an artist’s unique artistic spirit and originality, and on its limitless possibilities as well as its very real limitations.”
Above all, Choi highlighted the significance of filmmakers from different generations working together to find solutions for the age of AI. He added, “Amid the tremendous wave of AI sweeping through the course of civilization, I offer my thanks and applause in support of all the filmmakers finding, through creativity and solidarity, a wise course for Korean cinema to follow.”
The showcase, themed “In the Age of AI, How Can Cinema Survive?”, was held at the Seoul Film Center on the 5th and 6th. Film screenings and forums were organized to examine how AI is being used in filmmaking and how far it can realize creators’ originality.
The program also featured screenings of eight outstanding domestic AI short and mid-length films, followed by talks with audiences involving the directors. Experiments were also unveiled that used AI to enhance visual effects in existing films or recreate the directing styles of particular directors.
Videos applying AI to scenes from director Bae Chang-ho’s The Young Man and director Chung Ji-young’s My Name were presented. They realistically recreated the burning-car scene in The Young Man and added wind effects to the final scene of My Name.
The four-minute AI short Hwagin, unveiled at the showcase, portrayed the pain of a son who was unable to say a final goodbye to his father during the spread of COVID-19. It was directed by Baek Seung-woo, director of the documentary The Cheonan Project.
Settings were provided to an AI trained on five of director Im’s signature films—Sopyonje, The Surrogate Woman, Come, Come, Come Upward, The Taebaek Mountains and Chunhyang—to produce a script and video in an attempt to recreate the master filmmaker’s directing style.

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