President Lee Jae Myung (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron on Sept. 7 head toward the venue of the Lumiere Summit, a global event on the film and video sector, at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France.

By Xu Aiying
Photos = Cheong Wa Dae

Korea and France at the Lumiere Summit, a global event on the film and video industry in southern France that both co-chaired, on Sept. 7 announced investment of EUR 500 million (KRW 800 billion) each in both sectors in their respective countries over the next five years.

The inaugural summit discussed the future of the film and visual industries, attracting 274 people from 58 countries including culture ministers, international organizations representatives, executives from film and visual companies and organizations, directors and actors.

In his opening speech, President Lee Jae Myung emphasized the importance of the two sectors. He presented four key priorities to respond to the rapidly changing industrial landscape: overcoming the crisis facing movie theaters; achieving harmonious coexistence between human creativity and artificial intelligence; protecting cultural diversity through support for indie films; and promoting mutual growth between local and global industries.

At the opening ceremony, President Lee and French President Emmanuel Macron, both co-chairs of the summit, announced the launch of a cooperative initiative in the global film and video industries dubbed the "Lumiere Partnership." Both sides will each invest EUR 500 million in the two sectors from 2027-31.

Seoul and Paris will pursue phased and open cooperation, prioritizing support for their domestic film and visual sectors through independent funding and later promoting joint productions.

President Lee called constant innovation and outstanding creativity the keys to turning crisis into opportunity, adding that he hoped for the Lumiere Summit to serve as a "light" clearly illuminating the path forward for the film and video industries.

President Macron said the two sides hoped this summit to turn into a milestone for a new form of cooperation -- "multilateralism in action" -- that unites countries, creators, producers, broadcasters, platforms, cinemas, the video game and technology industries, and international organizations.

President Lee also met Korean creators invited to the summit and listened to their perspectives on the creative industry. He also attended a meeting with a delegation of executives from major U.S. media companies including Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, and those from Netflix, Disney, Sony and NBC Universal as well as CJ Group Vice Chairwoman Miky Lee to discuss the future of the Korean content industry and reinforcement of bilateral cooperation with the U.S.

President Lee Jae Myung on Sept. 7 speaks to Korean filmmakers and actors invited to the Lumiere Summit after its opening ceremony at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. From left are directors July Jung and Lee Chang-dong, President Lee (third from left), and actors Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu and Kim Do-yeon.

xuaiy@korea.kr