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COPENHAGEN: South Korean director Kim Ki-duk, who won top prize at the 2012 Venice Film Festival but later faced accusations at home of trying to force an actress to film off-script sex scenes while making another film, has died. in Latvia. . He was 59 years old.
The Baltic News Service quoted Latvia-based Russian documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky, president of an international documentary festival in Riga, as saying that Kim died after becoming ill from COVID-19. Mansky was not immediately available for comment.
Kim’s death was indirectly confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, which said that “a South Korean man in his 50s died while being treated for COVID-19 at a hospital in Latvia during the early hours of December 11, time. local”. He declined to identify the principal due to privacy concerns.
Kim arrived in Latvia on November 20 to buy a house in Jurmala, the country’s seaside resort near the capital Riga, and apply for a residence permit, the Lithuanian public broadcaster said.
Kim won first prize at the Venice Film Festival for her 2012 film Pieta, a brutal tale of revenge and redemption of mother and son. He also won best director awards at festivals in Venice and Berlin, and won another award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for his film Arirang.
While his films often garnered critical acclaim, many viewers, especially women, found them disturbing due to the excessive violence and depictions of rape and castration.
READ: Comment – Sexual harassment in South Korea exposes hypocrisy and culture of bullying
A year after the success of Venice, Kim faced the allegations at home, which she vaguely denied, saying there had been a misunderstanding. The actress retired and the movie, Moebius, a dark and violent story about a separated family, ended with a different actress.
Kim’s career in South Korea effectively ended between 2017 and 2018 after three actresses made new allegations on the investigative news program PD’s Notebook, which aired on the Korean public broadcaster MBC.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Riga was contacting the man’s family and offering to help organize a funeral. The ministry said it cannot reveal specific details about the man to anyone other than the family.
