S. Korean film director Kim Ki-duk dies from Covid-19 in Latvian hospital - Russian documentary director Mansky
MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - South Korean film director Kim Ki-duk has died in Latvia from coronavirus-related complications, Russian documentary director and producer Vitaly Mansky told Interfax.
"The film director's daughter, who is currently in South Korea, will make an official statement. But I can say that he died at 1:20 a.m. from Covid-19 complications in Latvia in the hospital where he was being treated," Mansky said.
Kim Ki-duk, who was 59 years old, could not be contacted since December 5, he said.
"I stepped in this story a day ago in order to arrange for him to be somehow transported to another country, but it was too late," Mansky said.
According to information on the Delfi news website, the world-renowned film director arrived in Latvia from St. Petersburg via Estonia on November 20. Unofficial reports indicate that he planned to buy a house in Jurmala and apply for a residence permit, but he did not show up for the arranged meeting. After that, his colleagues got worried and began looking for him in local hospitals. The search was complicated due to private data protection rules.
Kim Ki-duk holds the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion prize for his film Pieta, four awards of the Locarno International Film Festival, four awards of the Venice Film Festival, the Silver Bear award of the Berlin International Film Festival, and three awards of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. He was also a special guest at the Amur Autumn Film Festival. His other works include Arirang, Samaritan Girl, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring, The Bow, Time, and Breath.
According to Delfi, Kim Ki-duk worked closely with Russia and Kazakhstan in recent years. Last year, he chaired the jury of the Moscow International Film Festival, and in 2020 this festival featured his new film, Dissolve - a Russian-language film shot in Kazakhstan staring local actors and funded with money raised locally. The film's producer was its principal actress Dinara Zhumagaliyeva. Kim Ki-duk himself was its director, cameraman, scriptwriter, and editor.