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Kim Ki-duk’s film still headed to Berlin amid film fest’s #MeToo drive

By Im Eun-byel

Published : Feb. 7, 2018 - 16:41

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While the upcoming 68th Berlin International Film Festival has announced that it disqualified certain films over sexual misconduct allegations, Korean film director Kim Ki-duk’s work remains on its program.

The film festival director Dieter Kosslick said to the press Tuesday that certain productions had been disqualified from participating because a director, screenwriter or star related to the production was involved in credible sexual-assault allegations.
 

Kim Ki-duk (Yonhap) Kim Ki-duk (Yonhap)

Mentioning that “less than five” were canceled, Kosslick did not highlight the names. “Human, Space, Time and Human” by Korean film director Kim Ki-duk, who has been embroiled in sexual harassment allegations, remains on the program list published on the festival’s website.

The prize-winning filmmaker has been accused of harassment related to the shooting of the film “Moebius” in 2013. An actress filed charges against Kim last August, claiming the director abused her on the set. Women’s groups, judicial groups and film industry groups have been supporting the actress with her case.

The 41-year-old actress accused Kim of physical and sexual abuse, claiming that he beat her in front of the cameras and forced her into shooting unscripted sex scenes. She was later replaced by another actress. Kim said in a statement, “It was from a director’s stance, a situation that occurred while concentrating to heighten the realism of the film.” He argued that he did not have any personal feelings.

The court handed him a fine of 5 million won ($4,700) in December for physical assault. Other charges, including sexual harassment, were dismissed due to a lack of evidence. The actress has taken the case to an appeals court.

“Human, Space, Time and Human” has been invited to the festival’s Panorama Special, a noncompetition section, and is to be screened five times.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com