Hit animation film ‘Blue Giant’ to close 19th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival

Jazz-themed hit Japanese animation “Blue Giant” will close this year’s Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, which kicks off on Aug. 10.

Written and illustrated by Shinichi Ishizuka, with music by Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara, the film will be shown in Korea for the first time through the JIMFF.

“Blue Giant” follows the story of a student band called Jass, comprised of tenor saxophonist Dai, pianist Sawabe and drummer Tamada, as they play various gigs around town. The manga series became a global hit immediately after its release in 2013. The film version of the story was released in Japan in February.

The film will hit local theaters in the second half of the year.

Established in 2005, the 19th edition of the JIMFF will run through Aug. 15 in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province.

The JIMFF has recently experienced a few minor and major issues, having suffered from budget cuts and a reshuffle of its staff.

“This year’s festival will be held under the slogan ‘Da Capo,’ meaning that we would like to go back to the very beginning (of the festival) to reclaim our roots,” JIMFF organizing committee chief Lee Dong-jun said during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.

After running up a deficit of 520 million won ($405 million) during last year’s festival, the organizing committee chief Cho Sung-woo was subsequently fired in late 2022. This year’s budget is about 67 percent of last year's, standing at around 2.9 billion won.

Due to the budget reduction, Lee said the organizer had to cut down on the number of events and programs. This year’s festival will see a number of film and music incorporated events such as a tribute concert for Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away in March.