Filmmaker Bong to chair jury at this year’s Edinburgh film festival

South Korea’s award-winning director Bong Joon-ho will chair the international jury at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival set to open next month, the event’s organizer said.

Bong, whose English-language debut, “Snowpiercer,” is expected to open later this year, will choose the winner of the best film award in the international feature film competition category as the chief juror, the festival said in a news release posted on its website Tuesday.

The 67th edition of the festival runs from June 19-30.

He will be joined by “Game of Thrones” star Natalie Dormer and film critic Siobhan Synnot, it said.

“It’s a huge honor for our Festival to have Bong Joon-ho, one of the greatest filmmakers, as the Chair of the Jury of our International Feature Film Competition,” EIFF artistic director Chris Fujiwara was quoted as saying in the release.

Bong won the best director award at the San Sebastian Film Festival for “Memories of Murder” (2003) while “The Host” (2006) and “Mother” (2009) received much critical acclaim when they were screened at Cannes.

The EIFF has also announced that it will host two country focuses this year, showcasing work from Korea and Sweden.

The Korean films to be shown in “The Focus on Korea” section included director Ryoo Seung-wan’s box office hit “The Berlin File,” O Muel’s debut “Jiseul” and “National Security” by master director Chung Ji-young. (Yonhap News)