Annual movie bash in culture-rich Jeonju

The 13th Jeonju International Film Fest features 184 films from 42 countries


Famous for its delish bibimbap and beautiful hanok village, Jeonju is making its name as one of the most popular tourist spots in southern Korea.

The capital of North Jeolla Province hopes to attract movie buffs from around the world this week ― on top of its regular visitors ― by throwing its famous annual movie bash.

A total of 184 films from 42 countries will be featured during the upcoming 13th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF), which will run from this Thursday to May 4. 

The festival is known for introducing unconventional works by up-and-coming filmmakers worldwide. Last year, a total of 11 Korean films were invited to international film festivals after being featured at JIFF. The films include director Yi Seung-jun’s documentary “Planet of Snail,” which later won the top prize at IDFA, and director Lee Young-mi’s sensual drama “Secrets, Objects,” that later was invited to the 25th Montreal World Film Festival and the 33rd Moscow International Film Festival.

The opener selected for this year is French-Swiss director Ursula Meier’s 2010 drama “Sister” (L’Enfant d’en Haut). It tells the story of Simon, a 12-year-old boy who lives alone with his unemployed sister in the industrial valley near a luxurious ski resort in Switzerland. He makes money by stealing ski equipment from the wealthy tourists at the resort and reselling them to the kids living in his valley. The film, which is Meier’s second feature-length work, won the silver bear prize at this year’s Berlinale.

“We are very pleased to introduce ‘Sister’ as the opener of the 13th Jeonju International Film Festival,” said the organizing committee of the festival in a statement.

“Along with its strong narrative, outstanding performances by the cast, and the veteran staff, Meier has succeeded in making a great coming-of-age film, which will long be remembered. We’ve been putting our best efforts to discover new talents and introduce their works to Korean audiences with our previous editions. We think our selection of ‘Sister’ shows our continuous effort to do the same this year.”

The festival’s closing film, on the other hand, is “A Simple Life” by Hong Kong-based director Ann Hui. Based on a true story, the film pivots around the relationship between a young film producer named Roger and his family servant and nanny who has been working for Roger’s family for four generations throughout the last 60 years.

Since 2007, JIFF has been running a special, “JIFF-exclusive” project titled “Short! Short! Short!” where its organizing committee selects two or three independent filmmakers and have them produce a short or a mid-length film under their sponsorship. The sponsored films were unveiled at JIFF for the first time every year.

Last year, star indie filmmaker Yang Ik-june and Boo Ji-young together created a film titled “A Time to Love.” The piece later was invited to the 30th Vancouver International Film Festival, the 13th Cinemanila International Film Festival, and the 10th New York Korean Film Festival.

This year, director Park Jung-bum, who last year surprised the Korean film scene and foreign film fests with “The Journals of Musan,” ― a feature-length debut about a struggling North Korean defector ― has been selected as one of the two indie filmmakers for the project. He is showcasing a mid-length film titled “One Week” for this year’s JIFF project, a story about an impoverished man and his sister who struggle to make ends meet.

Other notable films include the 3-D version of China’s 1961 legendary animated film “The Monkey King ― Uproar in the Heaven,”; director Lee Jang-ho’s 1985 period drama “Eoudong”; and French director Georges Melies’s 1902 film “Voyage to the Moon,” which is the first Sci-fi film in history.

For tickets and the full line-up of this year’s edition, visit www.jiff.or.kr, or call (063)288-5433.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)