Parasite was the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, as well as the first South Korean film ever to receive Academy Award recognition. In the months leading up to the awards, Bong Joon-ho made headlines when he suggested that the Academy Awards are actually a "very local" film festival, illuminating the relative limits of the American film industry and reminding American film-goers that there are many vibrant film cultures, histories, and cinematic communities that exist outside of Hollywood. Indeed, the history of Korean cinema is rich and storied, and largely unknown to American audiences.
Cinema begins in 1897 in Kora, with short films being shown in movie theaters. The country's first movie theater appeared in 1903, and mainly showed international films directed by such directors as D.W. Griffiths, Douglas Fairbanks, and Fritz Lang. During the 1920s, Korean film studios were run by Japanese producers, as the country was annexed by Japan. The first Korean film, a kinodrama with picture inserts called Uirijeok Gutu (The Righteous Revenge) was released in 1919. Because of Japanese occupation, a great deal of Korean film history is fragmented. The first sound film premiered in 1935, and was called Chunhyang-jeon, based on the most popular folk tale in Korean history.
Five films survived the Korean War, including Chayu Manse! (Hoorah! Freedom!) from 1946, directed by Choi Un-gyu. The film deals with the topic of Japanese occupation and has a strong anti-Japanese message. The film industry revived itself in the 1950s and 1960s, a time in which one of the most famous Korean directors, Kim Ki-young, came to prominence. His film The Housemaid served as a major inspiration for Parasite.
