Filmart 2026: Whapung Films Restoration Project To Launch 13-Title Slate Of Restored Korean Classics
Lee B. Golden III
Film journeyman Frédéric Ambroisine has been ten toes and fingers in movies ever since the Hong Kong crossover of the nineties finally hit my own radar. He’s been a critic, journalist, author, filmmaker and festival programmer, and with an effort now four years in the making, he’s become the pointman on a new venture to bring more than a dozen restored and refurbished Korean classics back to screens.
Ambroisine will be doing this in partnership with celebrated filmmaker Chung Chang-wha (King Boxer, Broken Oath) through his longstanding Whapung Films label, in association with French brand Karmax-910, to bring the slate to upcoming markets and festivals, and even commercial releases. Ambroisine’s latest stop in this effort will be Hong Kong in time for Filmart with extra film festival business in April to possibly help spread the gospel.
I’m actually pretty thrilled at this as it was maybe a few weeks ago I thought about seeing some renewed Korean classics on home disc at some point. Pay attention, because I think we’ll be in for a real treat.
Read on:
PRESS RELEASE
March 17, 2026
Frédéric Ambroisine Launches International Restoration and Sales Initiative for Rare Korean Whapung Films at FILMART 2026
HONG KONG – March 2026
Film specialist and producer Frédéric Ambroisine will present an ambitious film restoration and international sales initiative during Hong Kong FILMART 2026, focusing on thirteen rare Korean feature films produced between 1979 and 1985 by Whapung Films (화풍흥업), the production company founded by filmmaker Chung Chang-wha (정창화).
The project, developed in collaboration with French company Karmax-910, marks the first coordinated international effort to restore, preserve and reintroduce these films to global audiences.
Although Chung Chang-wha is widely known internationally for directing Hong Kong classics such as King Boxer and Broken Oath, the films he produced in Korea through Whapung Films remain largely unseen outside South Korea.
The Whapung Films Restoration Project aims to bring this overlooked body of work back into international circulation.
Restoration Programme Begins in 2026
The restoration programme officially launched in February 2026, with the first titles being restored from original camera negatives preserved at the Korean Film Archive (KOFA), where the elements were deposited by Chung Chang-wha in the early 2000s.
• Shaolin Bridal Room (소림신방, 1982) – a cross-cultural martial arts comedy with erotic elements, inspired by Hong Kong kung-fu cinema and the work of director Lau Kar-leung.
Together, these films illustrate the diversity of the Whapung catalogue, which spans melodrama, martial arts, folk horror, social drama and hybrid genre cinema.
The thirteen films produced by Whapung between 1979 and 1985 were created during a highly regulated period of the South Korean film industry marked by censorship, strict production quotas and limited international distribution.
As a result, most of these films were never released internationally, despite surviving today in original negative elements preserved at KOFA.
The restoration project aims to:
• restore the films in 4K
• introduce them at major international film festivals
• develop theatrical, cinematheque and home-video releases
• position them as a rediscovered chapter of Korean cinema history.
Global Rights and Festival Strategy
Frédéric Ambroisine, who initiated the project and brought it to Karmax-910, has been officially mandated to coordinate restoration strategy, archival access, international communication and worldwide sales for the Whapung catalogue.
Originally limited to Western territories, the agreement has recently been expanded to worldwide rights, enabling a global circulation strategy including festivals, retrospective screenings and curated home-video releases.
Ambroisine previously collaborated closely with Chung Chang-wha, producing extensive documentary interviews with the filmmaker released internationally on Blu-ray editions, including Arrow Video’s Shawscope Vol. 1.
Additional Sales Title: The Black Magic with Buddha
During FILMART, Ambroisine is also presenting the Hong Kong cult horror film The Black Magic with Buddha 腦魔 (1983), directed by Lo Lieh, whose restoration he initiated two years ago.
The film’s French home-video rights were acquired in 2025 by Le Chat qui Fume, while North American rights were acquired by Mondo Macabro.
The restored film is scheduled for release in two different cuts in 2026, highlighting the film’s complex production history.
