Baek Da-bin: Breakthrough Strategy for Indie Cinema as Theaters Face Crisis
Creatrip Team
7 months ago
Baek Da-bin, founder of indie film company Film Da-bin, says engaging content still draws audiences despite a struggling Korean film industry. Established in 2017, Film Da-bin grew from distributing student short films into a leading independent distributor alongside Indiestory. To reduce reliance on government support, Baek expanded into importing and distributing foreign art films to build a sustainable revenue model. From Jan 21–27 the company is co-hosting a major showcase at CineCube (씨네큐브) featuring seven previously unreleased art films, including Berlin Festival titles and a restored 1926 Buster Keaton classic, The General — an effort to spotlight Keaton’s legacy to Korean viewers. Rejecting talk of inevitable decline, Baek argues that audiences still flock to compelling films (citing Zootopia 2 as an example) and describes her approach as confronting the theater crisis head-on. Asked what she’d do if money weren’t an issue, she answered she’d screen works by unknown directors to give them exposure.
