By Lee Hyo-won - Staff reporterWhen Kim Jong-hyun, a 48-year-old teacher at YoungPa Girls' Middle School in Pungnam-dong, was a teenager, he used to sneak into R-rated films wearing his father's suit. He would also take part in poetry readings while dreaming of becoming a man of letters.
What concerns Kim is the local education system's lack of concentration on fostering children's imagination and providing an outlet through which they can channel their interests and talent creatively.
The Korean zeal for education is almost notorious - local teenagers' lives are often dictated by the singular goal of entering a brand-name university. "College entrance exams are really important but it's also important to allow children to explore their dreams and desires," Kim told The Korea Times in Seoul, Monday.
And so he launched a filmmaking camp for kids, which has grown into an international youth film festival. The Seoul International Youth Film Festival (SIYFF), one of a handful of domestic film events to be supported by the state, opens its 12th edition from July 5 to 14 in downtown Seoul. What began as a showcase of 77 films from 10 countries now has 134 works from 39 countries.
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