What Movie Soundtracks Does Silica Gel's Kim Han-joo Want to Listen to Together? The Korean Film Archive's 'Digging Soundtrack'

The Korean Film Archive (Director Kim Hong-jun, hereinafter referred to as 'the Archive') will hold a new special exhibition 〈Digging Soundtrack – Listening to Korean Film Music on LP, Cassette, and CD〉 (hereinafter 'Digging Soundtrack') from October 24 (Friday) at the Korean Film Museum (located in Sangam-dong). This exhibition is the first of its kind in Korea, allowing visitors to directly experience over 3,000 film music records using turntables and players. It is designed to allow visitors to experience the importance of sensory expansion and archiving in a digital environment by experiencing the old record medium now.

A film music exhibition that immerses you in this year's trend of 'material charm'

Founded in 1974, the Korean Film Archive preserves not only film materials but also over 133,000 record materials. This exhibition will showcase 450 specially selected LPs, 480 cassette tapes, and 2,100 CDs, focusing on Korean and foreign film OSTs and inserted songs. The exhibition hall will be equipped with turntables, CD players, and cassette decks, allowing visitors to play and enjoy the records themselves. It will be a special experience where one can fully immerse in the unique tactile sensation of LPs felt at the needle tip, the physical feeling of owning music, and the charm of cover art that is hard to replace, which cannot be imagined in digital audio.

□ 〈It Can't Be Helped〉 Music Director Cho Young-wook, Blue Dragon Film Awards Music Award 〈Smuggling〉 Director Ryoo Seung-wan, and the popular band Silica Gel's Kim Han-joo recommend film music

After the release of Park Chan-wook's new film 〈It Can't Be Helped〉, the inserted songs have been as talked about as the film itself. Jo Yong-pil's 'Dragonfly' that decorates the middle of the film was the moment when Park Chan-wook's unique 'musical irony' was most clearly revealed, and Jo Seung-gu's 'Holey Heart', released in 2014, captivated the audience to the extent of charting back after its release. Music Director Cho Young-wook, who was in charge of the music, has worked on Park Chan-wook's films such as 〈Joint Security Area JSA〉 (2000), 〈Oldboy〉 (2003), 〈Lady Vengeance〉 (2005), and 〈Decision to Leave〉 (2022), as well as emphasizing the importance of OSTs in works like 〈The Contact〉 (Jang Yoon-hyun, 1997) and 〈The Outlaws: The Era of Bad Guys〉 (Yoon Jong-bin, 2012). Musician Jang Ki-ha won the music award at the 44th Blue Dragon Film Awards for 〈Smuggling〉 (Ryoo Seung-wan, 2023), drawing attention. He won the music award immediately after his debut as a music director and expressed gratitude for Ryoo Seung-wan's guidance. As he said, Ryoo Seung-wan is also known as a director with excellent musical sensibility, personally selecting the inserted songs.

Currently, Kim Han-joo, the vocalist of the most notable band in the music scene, 'Silica Gel', is a film enthusiast who participated as a music director in films such as 〈Boys Flight 2〉 (2022) and 〈At the End of This Movie〉 (Ahn Sun-kyung, 2023), and has also served as a guest programmer at film festivals. For this exhibition, a total of 18 individuals, including Cho Young-wook, Ryoo Seung-wan, and Kim Han-joo, as well as musicians Kim Sa-wol, Kim Jeong-beom, band Bulssajo's Han Sang-cheol, film director Jang Geon-jae, and film critics Kim Hye-sun, Jeon Jin-soo, and Joo Seong-cheol, have recommended 'film music they want to listen to together'. Their playlists can be found not only in the exhibition catalog but also as physical records in the exhibition hall.

□ Collaboration video between film music legend Kim Soo-cheol and documentary rising star Director Son Gu-yong, and the first public release of cover art projects by three young graphic designers

〈Digging Soundtrack〉 is an exhibition that allows visitors to directly experience the old record medium, where the past and present meet. In addition to the record exhibition, there are new and old encounters in this exhibition as well. First, the video work created in collaboration between legendary Korean film music director Kim Soo-cheol and rising star documentary director Son Gu-yong will be publicly released for the first time.

‘Little Giant’ Kim Soo-cheol is a figure who integrated Korean rhythms and melodies into film music in works such as 〈Whale Hunting〉 (Bae Chang-ho, 1984), 〈Chilsu and Mansu〉 (Park Kwang-soo, 1988), and 〈The Sound of a Mountain〉 (Im Kwon-taek, 1993), and is a true legend of Korean film music. Director Son Gu-yong, who is evaluated as a rising star in the documentary field, won the Documentary Award at the 24th Jeonju International Film Festival with his second work 〈Night Walk〉 (2023) and was invited to the Rotterdam International Film Festival. For this exhibition, he will publicly release the unpublished 'Sound of a Planet (Gayageum Solo)' by Kim Soo-cheol in the first showing of 〈Night Walk (short ver.)〉 (2025). The silent film 〈Night Walk〉 is an impressive work featuring drawings made by the director and poetic verses from Joseon-era scholars, combined with Kim Soo-cheol's Gayageum Sanjo, conveying a harmonious artistic inspiration between the old and new generations.

Additionally, three teams of young graphic designers representing Korea will publicly release nine 'New Covers' that reinterpret the OST album covers of classic Korean films. Kim Ki-jo, known for his album designs and Hangul lettering work with musician Jang Ki-ha, 'Seulgi and Min', who have collaborated with the Guggenheim Museum in New York and M+ in Hong Kong, and 'Pot (Kim Hyun-jin)', who is active in various fields such as exhibitions, publishing, and branding, participated. They have newly designed the album covers for nine film music albums, including 〈March of the Fools〉 (Ha Gil-jong, 1975), 〈Blue Inside You〉 (Lee Hyun-seung, 1992), and 〈August's Christmas〉 (Heo Jin-ho, 1998). This exhibition can be viewed at the Korean Film Museum starting from 10:30 AM on the 24th (Friday), and detailed usage methods can be checked on the website (www.koreafilm.or.kr). Admission to the exhibition is free.