CGV Arthouse, which is run by theater chain CGV, will be presenting 20 top Academy Award-nominated films in a special five-week program set to begin Feb. 11.

The lineup for the “Academy Award Special Program” includes films nominated for the award’s top honors, such as “The Revenant” and “The Martian.” Also included will be ten films that have not been released in Korea yet, including “The Danish Girl,” “Room,” “Brooklyn” and “45 Years.”

The program will also have special events, such as a live talk session on the Hungarian film “Son of Saul” with film critic Lee Dong-jin. Another event is “Kim Hye-ri’s Monthly Actor” talk to be held Feb. 19 at CGV Myeong-dong Station’s Cine Library. The talk will focus on commercial actor Matt Damon of “The Martian,” rather than other actors starring in independent films that have gotten Oscar nods such as “Room” and “Brooklyn.” 

The program organized by the art house brand aims to provide audiences with the chance to watch “excellent independent and art films in the best environment,” according to the brand’s website.

However, it is questionable whether the program lives up to this lofty aim.

The choice to put these Oscar-nominated films at the center of the upcoming art house program is puzzling. After all, the Academy Awards have often come under fire for the lack of genre diversity. Award winners and nominees have also typically been dramas or biopics, leaving out other genres, such as comedies, horror films and art flicks.

Independent and art films are meant to be the core of art house venues, but this focus appears to be missing in the “Academy Award Special Program.”

The decision to focus on the Academy Awards for this program might be partly because CGV runs the TV channel “channel CGV,” which has exclusive rights to broadcast the 88th Academy Awards on Feb. 29 in Korea.

It is not just this upcoming program at CGV Arthouse that seems to be having an identity crisis.

The art house branches of major theater chains in Korea have also drawn flak for focusing too much on foreign blockbusters such as Quentin Tarantino’s recent “The Hateful Eight,” rather than smaller films that need more exposure.

Kim Eun-joo, who directs sales at indie film distributor Holy Garden, told The Korea Herald that it was “not at all easy” to get a Korean art film to play at the art house screens of large chains such as CGV or Lotte Cinema. “The few Korean films that do get in seem to be there just to fill the screen quota for domestic films,” she said.

According to Kim, indie film distributors have begun in recent years to “turn down good films because (we) know that without well-known actors, directors, or film festival accolades from abroad, the chances of them actually making it to the screen are miniscule.”

Meanwhile, she said, there still exist some independent film theaters, such as Indie Space, which cater to the audience of controversial political films like “Cruel State,” about the aftermath of the Sewol ferry tragedy, and “The Anxious Day Out,” about a man who was imprisoned for protesting against government policies.

When asked where Korean art films are usually distributed, she said, “It’s hard to say. That seems to be why a lot of them are disappearing.”

Hwang Ji-woo, a 27-year-old aspiring indie film director, said that directors hope to be able to have their works shown at the art house theaters run by major chains.

“A director I know was lucky enough to screen at CGV Arthouse, and he said that he had never dreamed his movie would ever sell so many tickets,” he said. “Being accepted by the big chains has become a sort of new standard for indie film directors.”

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)