A mate brought this very interesting news to my attention, a film-maker called Frédéric Ambroisine (who has long been involved in Asian cinema, particularly in creating many of the special feature documentaries we've all benefitted from) has secured the rights to several classic Korean films.

The prints are currently stored at the Korean Film Archive (KOFA) and access has been given by the producer Jeong Chang-hwa (aka Chung Chang-wha or Cheng Chang-ho to many HK fans), who fans may know from directing such HK classics as: King Boxer [1972]; The Association [1975]; and Broken Oath [1977].




The films cover a range of genre's, from romantic drama to full on action-comedy and more importantly are very hard (if not impossible) to come by, many only seeing release on Korean VHS (if even that). Some are the Korean print of HK (or Taiwan) co-production which feature alternate scenes with Korean actors and even HK/Taiwan actors (some that didn't even feature in the other version at all). This is a treasure trove of rare material, I've even see Korean's wishing they could find releases of such rare classics of Shaolin Bridal Room [1982] as even there it is a lost gem.

This is great news, but the work is not yet finished. Frédéric and the good people at Karmax-910 are now at the stage of looking for investors so that the films can be scanned. With so many rare HK (and even Korean) classics seeing shiny new HD releases in the last few years, hopefully it won't be long before someone sees the value in these unearthed gems and snatches them up.

I have contacted Frédéric and he has kindly allowed me to share the details of the situation and a list of the films in question. He's secured the rights to about 15 Korean films produced by Jeong Chang-hwa between 1979-1986 for multiple Western territories (including North America, Europe, and Australia) and the original negatives are just waiting to be scanned. Here is the list:

달빛타기 – Riding the Moonlight (Dalbichtagi) [1985]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03897

홍병매 – Hong Byung-mae [1984] --- aka Killing In The Nude
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03812
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=6673&display_set=eng

지금 이대로가 좋아 – I Like It Just the Way It Is Now [1984]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03813

내사랑 짱구 – My Love Jjang-gu [1984]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03843

불새의 늪 – The Swamp of the Firebird [1983]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03756

여자와 비 – The Woman and Rain [1982]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03625

소림신방 – Shaolin Bridal Room [1982]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03627

가슴깊게 화끈하게 – With Passion and Heat [1981]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03528

색깔있는 여자 – Colorful Woman [1980]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03408

괴초도사 – The Gwoi-cho Guru [1980]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03483
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=19520&display_set=eng

학을 그리는 여인 – The Woman Who Draws Cranes [1979]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03326

어느 여대생의 고백 – A College Woman’s Confession [1979]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03403

불행한 여자의 행복 – Happiness of an Unhappy Woman [1979]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03370


There are also a few additional titles that he's still investigating in terms of whether KOFA holds the original negatives:

비호문 – The Gate of Flying Tiger [1983] --- aka Legend Of Peach Blossom (a Won Jin film )
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03745
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=19523&display_set=eng

친구애인 – The Lover of a Friend [1982]
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03678

인터폴 – Interpol [1981] --- aka Red Rattlesnake
https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/03582
https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=15154&display_set=eng


So this is very promising news, I wish him well with the project and thank him for his work in preserving and promoting Asian cinema. I hope that anyone reading this that has connections to potential investors will let them know of this precious haul. To contact Frédéric Ambroisine or to find out more about the project please visit these Facebook pages:

Frédéric Ambroisine
https://www.facebook.com/fredambroisine

Whapung 화풍흥업
https://www.facebook.com/whapung


Cheers