South Korea is to bring in legislation to protect actresses after a survey found 60 percent of them said they had been pressured to have sex to further their careers, an official
said Wednesday.
The law will lay down strict rules on the establishment of entertainment agencies, a culture ministry official said, adding unregistered agencies would be shut down.
“The government will enact a
law, this year if possible, to protect their rights,” he said on condition
of anonymity.
On Tuesday the National Human Rights Commission published a survey conducted last year of 111 actresses and 240 aspiring actresses. Some 60 percent reported receiving sexual advances from people who could influence
their careers.
Such offers from wealthy businessmen, television program makers, movie producers and politicians come through colleagues, entertainment agency officials and brokers, the state rights body said.
More than half said they had been offered “sponsorship” — a secret contract under which they receive financial support from rich men in exchange for regular sexual relations.
The commission said the survey
was conducted to raise public awareness following the suicide of an actress last year.
Jang Ja-Yeon killed herself after suggesting she had been forced to have sex with influential figures to promote her career.
A group of film industry luminaries, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, on Friday called on the Iranian government to release jailed director Jafar Panahi.
In a petition signed by filmmakers and actors such as Robert De Niro and Robert Redford, the group denounced the March arrest of Panahi, whose movies include The White Balloon and The Circle.
“We ... stand in solidarity with a fellow filmmaker, condemn this detention, and strongly urge the Iranian government to release Mr Panahi immediately,” the petition says.
Panahi, a maker of gritty films that examine social issues in the Islamic republic, was a supporter of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in last year’s disputed election that saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad retain power.
On March 1, Panahi, his wife, daughter and 15 guests were held by Iranian security guards at his home, according to opposition leaders.
The petitioners say Panahi has
since been held in Tehran’s Evin prison, and they cite a letter from Panahi’s
wife expressing “deep concerns about her husband’s heart condition, and about his having been moved to a smaller cell.”
“Like artists everywhere, Iran’s filmmakers should be celebrated, not censored, repressed and imprisoned,” the petition reads.
Panahi, 49, saw his first film, 1995’s The White Ballon, win the Camera d’Or prize at the Cannes film festival, and 2000’s The Circle, which looked at the treatment of women in Iran, earned the top prize at the Venice
Film Festival.
Other filmmakers signing the document include brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, Jonathan Demme, Ang Lee (李安), Oliver Stone and documentary maker Michael Moore.
A German film about a young woman who flees an oppressive life in Istanbul and moves to Berlin and a documentary about a Down syndrome couple won the top prizes at the Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday.
When We Leave (Die Fremde) by Austrian filmmaker Feo Aladag took two awards including best narrative feature and best actress for Germany’s Sibel Kekilli. Monica and David, by first-time director Alexandra Codina, won the best documentary prize for a portrait of an American Down syndrome couple in love and preparing for their marriage.
Tribeca, which has grown into a high-profile film festival since its launch in 2002, has previously featured movies that went on to win critical success including Taxi to the Dark Side. This year, the festival launched a new distribution arm and online streaming for Web audiences.
The award-winning films were among 85 feature-length movies shown at the festival — including 55 narrative features and 30 documentaries — which ended yesterday. Among the jurors picking award-winners were singer Alicia Keys and actors Zach Braff, Brooke Shields, Jessica Alba and Whoopi Goldberg.
French actor Eric Elmosnino was named best actor in a feature film playing Serge Gainsbourg in a new biopic of the singer, famed for the heavy-breathing classic Je t’aime ... Moi Non Plus (I Love You, Me Neither).
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