The film will premiere in Colombia on September 12 Birthwhich tells the life of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, Korea’s first Catholic priest and martyr, whose story has also led to the conversion of the film’s director.
Saint Andrew Kim was born into a Catholic family in 1821 south of Seoul, during the rule of the Joseon dynasty, “and was chosen by the missionaries of the Paris Society to travel to Macao (China) to prepare as a priest” , Catholic Films Colombia, distributor of the film in the country, indicated in a note.
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
In China, the future martyr was ordained a priest in 1845 by the first bishop of Seoul, the French Monsignor Jean-Joseph Ferréol.
However, upon returning to Korea “he was persecuted and detained for his missionary work. He was martyred in 1846 at only 25 years old.”
The martyr “stood out for being a pioneer in human dignity, above all, because Korea was a caste-ordered society and Kim preached that, being ‘made in the image of God’, all men and women are equal and have the same dignity. This led him to renounce the privileges of belonging to the nobility and to want to live equally with everyone,” the note says.
About the movie “Birth”
The movie Birthwhich can be seen in Colombia in Cinermark theaters, has been directed by Park Heung-sik, whose story of Saint Andrew Kim Taegón led him to convert to Catholicism.
“I was not Catholic when I made this film. So, I think I was able to see many aspects that historians of the Korean Catholic Church had overlooked and thus portray Father Kim’s life in a way that is closer to his true character,” he shared to the Spanish magazine Misión in an interview published in February.
“Thanks to this film,” he added, “I had the honor of meeting Pope Francis twice, whom I have admired for a long time. I was very moved to think that Father Kim’s life had led me here. I was baptized in March of last year. My baptismal name is Francisco. Father Kim gave me the courage to take this step.”
The film lasts two and a half hours, and has been produced by Min Film, with the co-production of Catholic Cultural Center – Alma Art. For its recording, locations were chosen in Macau and in different parts of South Korea.
Eduardo Berdejo
Professional in Social Communication from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru, I have more than 20 years of experience in Catholic digital journalism. As part of ACI Prensa I have been sent to cover Pope Francis’ trips to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, in addition to the Synodality Synod in the Vatican in 2023.