‘80-year-old actress’ Na Moon-hee is releasing five short films at the same time. The secret to her being able to overcome physical and time limitations and present multiple films at once lies in AI (artificial intelligence). Five directors took the lead in the short film project ‘It‘s Me, Moon-hee’, which was completed 100% with AI.

‘It’s Me, Moon-hee’, which will be released on the 24th, is a project that bundles together five award-winning works out of 47 works submitted to the AI short film contest featuring Na Moon-hee as the main character. Under the theme of ‘Infinite Debut Beyond Imagination’, Na Moon-hee presents ‘limitless characters’, going back and forth between the appearances of an astronaut, a biker, the Mona Lisa, and Santa, in five films: ‘Do You Really Know Her’ (directed by Jung Eun-wook), ‘Cookie Game’ (directed by Park Won-pyo), ‘Na Moon-hee Universe’ (directed by Yoo Ji-cheon), ‘The Present, Moon-hee’ (directed by Won Kyung-hye), and ‘Santa Moon-hee’.

Na Moon-hee, who confirmed her appearance in the films, said, “What‘s the use of just sitting still? Rather than just waiting for the day to die, it’s good to move around and do (various) activities until the day I die,“ and “(As I‘m getting older) my body isn’t free anymore, but it was great to fly around with wings in the movies. ”Just seeing myself sitting in a place I‘ve never actually been to made me happy,“ he said.
According to Park Jae-soo, CEO of MCA, an AI entertainment company that planned this project, ‘It’s Me, Moon-hee’ was carried out with the intention of “legally acquiring the digital IP of stars” and pursuing limitless creative activities with relatively low production costs amidst widespread social problems related to AI, such as the production of illegal videos that recreate the appearance of stars using deepfake methods.

Although movies utilizing AI have been produced one after another around the world due to the rapid development of AI, most of the characters have been produced as ‘virtual characters’ that do not exist in reality. The production of an AI movie with a real famous actor as the main character, like ‘Na, Moon-hee’, is a rare case that is hard to find even worldwide.

Regarding this, CEO Park said that most star actors are not given the “challenge opportunity” to utilize their IP in AI movies due to concerns about the use of digital IP, etc., and “Nevertheless, I expressed my respect and gratitude to actor Na Moon-hee for giving me this opportunity.


Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com