Berlin International Film Festival exec Christoph Terhechte will be the recipient of this year’s Korean Cinema Award at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival. The Korean Cinema Award is granted to a notable figure that has made significant contributions in promoting Korean cinema worldwide, and will be presented at the opening ceremony of the 22nd Busan International Film Festival.

Christoph Terhechte, a head of Berlin International Film Festival’s Forum, has constantly invited Korean films and contributed to the globalization of Korean cinema. Since he was assigned as a head of Berlin Forum in 2001, numerous films, including Take Care of My Cat by Jeong Jae-eun, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance by Park Chan-wook and A Tale of Two Sisters by Kim Jee-woon, have been invited to the Berlin International Film Festival and raised the status of Korean cinema.

Christoph Terhechte has maintained his focus on Korean up-and-coming directors and selected diverse Korean films over the past five years; 10 Minutes (2013) by Lee Yong-seung, Non-fiction Diary (2013) by Jung Yoon-suk, A Dream of Iron (2013) by Park Kyung Kun and End of Winter (2014) by Kim Daehwan. In 2017, he invited Autumn, Autumn by a rookie director Jang Woojin as well as Korean classic Aimless Bullet by Yu Hyun-mok and a restoration version of The Last Witness by Lee Doo Yong. Christoph Terhechte has consistently introduced Korean films from oldest to newest and played an essential role in making a wide range of Korean cinema available to global audiences and diverse film industries.

Christoph TERHECHTEㅣHead of Berlin International Film Festival ForumㅣGermany
Christoph Terhechte was born in 1961, in the city of Münster, Germany. He studied political science and journalism at the University of Hamburg and started his career as a film journalist in 1984. After he worked as a writer of “taz”, a daily newspaper in Germany, Christoph moved to Paris, working as a freelance journalist. He also worked as a head editor in the film section at the Berlin city magazine “tip”. He promoted European cinema by working on the film selection and editorial work of the European Low Budget Film Forum in Hamburg. Christoph Terhechte has been a member of the selection committee of the Berlin International Film Festival Forum since 1997 and was appointed head of the Berlinale section in 2001. Working as a head of the International Forum of New Cinema of the Berlin International Film Festival, Christoph Terhechte has actively introduced Korean cinema to European audiences.

Past Recipients of the Korean Cinema Award (Position held at the time of the award presentation)

21st
Laurence HERSZBERG (Director-general of Forum des Images, France)

20th
Wieland SPECK (Director of the Berlin International Film Festival Panorama, Germany)

19th
Corinne SIEGRIST-OBOUSSIER (Director of Filmpodium, Switzerland)

18th
Charles TESSON (Artistic Director of Cannes International Film Festival Critics’ Week, France)

17th
HAYASHI Kanako (Festival Director of Tokyo FILMeX, Japan)

16th
Julietta SICHEL (Former Program Director of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic)

15th
Bruno BARDE (Festival Director of Deauville Asian Film Festival, France)

14th
Riccardo GELLI (Director of Korea Film Festival in Florence, Italy)
Jeannette Paulson HERENIKO (President of Asia Pacific Film.com, Former Director of Hawaii International Film Festival, USA)

13th
Richard PEÑA (Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, USA)

12th
Sabrina BARACETTI (Festival President of Udine Far East Film Festival, Italy)
Jean-François RAUGER (Head Programmer of the Cinémathèque Française, France)

11th
Martial KNAEBEL (Festival Director of Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland)
TERAWAKI Ken (Former Director-General of Cultural Affairs Department of Japan, Japan)

10th
Dieter KOSSLICK (Festival Director of Berlinale, Germany)
Thierry FRÉMAUX (Artistic Director of Cannes International Film Festival, France)

9th
YANO Kazuyuki (Festival Director of Yamagata International Documentary Festival, Japan)
Phillip CHEAH (Festival Director of Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore)

8th
PARK Byoung-yang (President of Asia Film Production, Japan)
LEE Bong-ou (President of Cine Quanon, Japan)

7th
Alain Jacques Louis PATEL (Festival Director of Deauville Asian Film Festival, France)

6th
Eva ZAORALOVÁ (Festival Director of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic)

5th
Martin & Anna Louisa GIROD (Directors of Stadtkino Basel, Switzerland)

4th
Serge LOSIQUE (Festival Director of Montreal International Film Festival, Canada)
LEE Young-il (Film Critic, Korea)

3rd
Gilles JACOB (Festival Director of Cannes International Film Festival, France)
Moritz de HADELN (Festival Director of Berlinale, Germany)

2nd
Aruna VASUDEV (Editor-in-Chief of CINEMAYA, India)
SATO Tadao (Festival Director of Fukuoka Film Festival, Japan)

1st
Adriano APRÀ (Festival Director of Pesaro International Film Festival, Italy)
Tony RAYNS (Film Critic, UK)
Alain JALLADEAU (Festival Director of Festival des 3 Continents, France)
Ulrich GREGOR (Director of International Forum, Berlinale, Germany)
Larry KADISH (Programmer of Museum of Modern Art, USA)
Ancha FLUBACHER-RHIM (Deputy Festival Director of Jeonju International Film Festival, Korea)
Simon FIELD (Festival Director of Rotterdam International Film Festival, UK)