hankyoreh

By Lee Kyung-mi, staff reporter

The true story of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor plant workers who died from leukemia will soon make it to the big screen.

Social funding company, Good Funding, announced on Nov. 1 that it planned to launch a crowdfunding effort to finance the production of the movie, “Another Family”. Crowdfunding is a way of collecting funds from the public through social networking services and websites to support the activities of people or organizations.

The movie tells the story of a couple of everyday parents who lost their daughter to leukemia, which they believe she contracted while working at a Samsung semiconductor factory. The parents then faced a struggle against the massive corporation to uncover the truth of her daughter’s death. Actors Park Chul-min and Yoon Yoo-sun have been cast in the roles of the parents who stand up to the electronics giant to keep the promise they made to their daughter.

The filmmakers reportedly struggled to find investors due to its sensitive subject matter. Director Kim Tae-yun said, “People tried to discourage me when I announced that I would be making this movie, but I made up my mind in the hope that many people would think about the issues and work together on a solution.”

The crowd funding event will continue until the end of the month at the Good Funding website (goodfunding.net), with an initial target fund on 100 million won (US$91,600). Supporters can make investments starting at 5,000 won (about US$4.50) and will be offered prizes that include invitations to the press screening or DVDs of the film depending on the amount of their donation.

Shin Hyun-wook of Good Funding said, “Crowd funding provides the public opportunities to take a deeper interest in social issues and communicate with others. We expect many people out there who hope for change to take interest.”

Meanwhile, two documentary films that call for social change, “MacKorea,” which outlines the suspicions that special business favors were granted to Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund, the largest listed infrastructure fund in Asia that was contracted to build roads and Seoul Subway Line 9. MKIF investors are composed of 80% of domestic investors and 20% of foreign investors listed in KRX and LSE.

Another film, “MB’s Memory”, which recollects the five years of the President Lee Myung-bak administration, were released last month and have seen high ticket sales despite only being screened in a small number of theaters.

“National Security (Namyeong-dong 1985),” which portrays the late Democratic Party adviser Kim Geun-tae’s plight during his torture for pro-democratic activities under the military dictatorship, and “26 Years”, which depicts the Gwangju Democratization Movement and was produced by social funding, are also slated for release on Nov. 22 and Nov. 29, respectively.

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