It's a special week this week for Korean cinema... and to celebrate this special week, there are various events being held to recognize the industry's achievements over the past century.<br />And in the first part of of our Korean movie series this week..., our Kan Hyeong-woo takes a look back at the history of Korean films.<br />2019 marks the 100th year since the birth of Korean cinema.<br />To get to know more about the history of the Korean film industry, we start with how it all began.<br />On October 27th, 1919,...Korea's first domestic film 'Urijeok Guto', meaning 'Fight for Justice', made its debut at Dansungsa Theater in Central Seoul.<br />It was a kino-drama in which actors performed against a motion picture backdrop.<br />'Chunhyangjeon', released in 1935, was Korea's first film with sound.<br />And 'Igukjeongwon', which was released 23 years later, was the nation's first color movie.<br />Fast-forward 50 years...Korean movies and directors finally began to get recognition on the international stage.<br />2002 was a memorable year for Korean cinema... as two directors - Im Kwon-taek and Lee Chang-dong each received a best director award... Im for ' Chihwaseon' at the Cannes Film Festival and Lee for 'Oasis' at the Venice International Film Festival.<br />Two years later, Director Park Chan-wook received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival for 'Oldboy', which is the second most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or.<br />And finally... Director Bong Joon-ho became the first Korean to receive the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival for 'Parasite'.<br />Along with Korean films getting international honors,... South Korean movie stars have also won accolades on the world stage.<br />In 1987, Kang Soo-yeon became not only the first Korean, but also the first Asian to receive the best actress award at the Venice International Film Festival.<br />Moon So-ri took the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the 2002 Venice International Film Festival - an award given to the best emerging actor or actress.<br />The best actress awards continued with Jeon Do-yeon winning the honor at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and...<br />Kim Min-hee taking the trophy at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival.<br />As for the economic growth of the Korean film industry,...<br />South Korea started the new century with what's been dubbed as 'the era of 10-million views'...with 'Silmido' in 2003 becoming the first Korean film to hit that number, followed shortly after by several other movies.<br />In 2014, 'Myeongryang' recorded over 17 million ticket sales to become Korea's most watched movie - a title it still holds to this day.<br />From 'Silmido' to 'Parasite' in 2019...<br />there have been 19 domestic films with over 10 million views.<br />This one-minute clip shows the development of Korean filmmaking technology,... starting from smaller screen in black and white... and gradually becoming wider and colorized.<br />Korean cinema has come a long way... reaching over 200-million annual ticket sales in 2018 to become the fifth
