President Lee Announces Korea-France 'Lumière Partnership'...Support for Film Industry in Crisis

The global film and video industry is experiencing unprecedented turbulence as streaming giants dominate the market, generative AI advances at a breakneck pace, and theater attendance continues to decline. To confront these industry challenges head-on, the leaders of South Korea and France have joined hands.

President Lee Jae-myung, on a state visit to France, attended the international film and video summit 'Lumière Summit' held on the 7th (local time) at the Megève Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, southern France, as co-chair.

President Lee co-chaired the meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and formally announced the launch of the 'Lumière Partnership,' a strategic audiovisual cooperation agreement between the two nations.

1.6 trillion won invested over 5 years...Adoption of 'Declaration' addressing 4 survival priorities

The core lies in investment scale. The two nations agreed to launch the 'Lumière Partnership' for global audiovisual industry investment. Over the next 5 years, South Korea and France will each contribute 500 million euros (approximately 800 billion won in Korean currency), jointly creating a massive joint fund totaling 1.6 trillion won.

The 'Lumière Declaration' with 15 principles adopted at the summit includes four core priorities reflecting voices from the field. The backbone consists of restoring the theater ecosystem as a daily cultural space for citizens, establishing standards for AI use that protect human creative rights, fostering independent and art films, and building a fair co-prosperity model between global OTTs and domestic producers.

"Korea will fulfill its responsibility as an AI powerhouse"...Emphasis on maintaining independent film creation

In his opening remarks, President Lee stated, "As a core nation in the global AI supply chain, the Republic of Korea will fulfill its responsibility to ensure humans and AI can coexist harmoniously," clearly prioritizing creators' rights amid technological upheaval.

He continued, "Multilateral cooperation is essential for more independent films to be continuously produced," and promised, "The Republic of Korea will also be a steadfast partner for independent cinema." This reflects the nation's commitment to supporting the survival foundation of non-commercial art films at the state level amid a market environment skewed toward capital and major platforms.

Expanding 'global territory' opens new creative landscape...High expectations in film industry

The culture and audiovisual industry is expressing high expectations, noting that this partnership launch establishes a bridgehead for K-content to deeply penetrate the European market.

First, increased Korea-France co-productions will enable direct use of French local funding and tax incentives, as well as the EU's screen quota and support systems, significantly expanding the distribution reach of Korean content. In particular, with South Korea's AI technology competitiveness and France's traditional art film policy expertise establishing a technology-creation collaboration system, there is anticipation that the two will jointly lead global guidelines on AI copyright protection and ethical use of generative tools.

Furthermore, the domestic independent and art film industry, struggling with funding shortages, views this joint investment fund as stable seed funding for creation, with expectations that opportunities to advance to global stages, including the Cannes Film Festival, will expand significantly.

Establishment of practical implementation guidelines holds key to realization

Ultimately, the critical factor is the detailed execution structure of the massive fund. Precise guidelines must be established to ensure that the 1.6 trillion won does not concentrate on major commercial films or platforms but seeps evenly into the independent and art film field. Moreover, whether this moves beyond declarative agreement to swift implementation through domestic legal and institutional reforms and restructuring of support systems will determine the effectiveness of this partnership.