"Ode to My Father," a major South Korean box-office hit, was screened at the Paris headquarters of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday (local time) for its officials and diplomats there.
Some 80 people, including OECD Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki, attended the screening event held during lunch time.
It was hosted by South Korea's Permanent Delegation to the OECD to mark the 20th year of Korea's membership in the organization for economic powers.
Starring Hwang Jung-min, Kim Yun-jin and Oh Dal-soo, the 2014 film depicts the story of an ordinary father who sacrificed himself to support his family through Korea's turbulent modern history from the 1950-53 Korean War till recent times. It was viewed by more than 14 million people in South Korea.
Audiences silently wiped away tears while watching one scene in particular. In the scene, the protagonist Deok-su (played by Hwang) explodes into tears upon discovering his long-lost sister, who was adopted by an American family, while appearing on a TV program that arranged reunions of families separated during the war.
When the light came on after the screening, the audience gave a long ovation.
Tamaki said the film was deeply moving, adding that it well showed Korea's recent history and how life was like in the country after the war.
A Canadian official with the OECD Secretariat said the film reminded him of his own father, whom he has not seen for a long time.
The Korean mission said it picked the film to enhance the OECD's understanding of Korea and its history of economic development.
"Viewers can take a journey to the past after the Korean War through this film," said South Korea's ambassador to the OECD Yoon Jong-won said. "We wanted to show that without the pain, patience and sacrifice endured by Koreans during the past 60 years, there would have been no economic miracle." (Yonhap)
