Serbian film opens 22nd Jeonju International Film Festival

A movie fan takes a photo of the film poster for “Father,” which was chosen as the 22nd Jeonju International Film Festival's opening film on Jeonju Film Street, Saturday. Yonhap

By Kwak Yeon-soo

• Published May 2, 2021 12:01 PM KST
• Updated May 2, 2021 3:49 PM KST

By Kwak Yeon-soo

JEONJU ― The Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF), an annual celebration of indie films, kicked off its 10-day run Thursday and will run through May 8, featuring nearly 200 films.

Under the slogan, “Film Goes On,” a total of 194 films from 48 countries will be screened during the festival at four local theaters. For those unable to attend, 142 films are also available on the local streaming platform Wavve.

The opening ceremony was held on Thursday at Sori Arts Center in Jeonju, in front of an audience of filmmakers, actors and other industry members.

“What is familiar to us is easy, but that cannot change the world. So far, JIFF has supported experimental and alternative films. Social distancing is unavoidable, but I believe the audience members will feel connected through the films,” said Jeonju Mayor Kim Seung-su, who serves as chairman of JIFF's organizing committee.

Festival director Lee Joon-dong expressed his will to revive JIFF's identity. “As for the film festival's identity, I believe that the most important thing is that audiences and filmmakers meet in person at theaters,” Lee said.

“The pandemic has disrupted the filmmaking environment, making it exceptionally difficult for independent filmmakers. We have a responsibility to protect them. The cinematic discourse is also in decline. We hope that JIFF fosters more discussion,” he added.

The international competition jury members include: the director of International Film Festival Rotterdam, Vanja Kaludercic, actress Bae Jong-ok, “The Wild Goose Lake” director Shen Yang, “Freedom” director Albery Serra and “Secret Sunshine” producer Lee Hanna.

The Korean competition jury is comprised of: “Love, Lies” director Park Heung-sik, film programmer at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Kiva Reardon and “The Girl in The Lemon Factory” director Chiara Maranon.

The Korean shorts jury members are: the Quebec City Film Festival's programming director Laura Rohard, “Call” director Lee Chung-hyun and singer-actress Choi Soo-young.

The opening film was “Father,” by Serbian director Srdan Golubovic, a story about a Serbian day worker and father of two children, who is struggling to get his kids back, after the authorities take them away citing his poverty.

Actress Ryu Hyun-kyung was named the programmer for the newly created “J Special” session. She has recommended eight films ― 4 feature films and 4 shorts ― and will be engaging in cinema talks with the audiences.

This year, she chose: director Kim Hyun-tak's “I” (2020), director Bae Jong-dae's “Black Light” (2020), director Yoon Ga-eun's “The World of Us” (2016) and director Hur Jin-ho's “Christmas in August” (1998) for feature films.

For shorts, she selected: “Heart Robber” (2010), a film that she directed and performed in, director Kim Rae-won's “Before the Moving” (2014), director Song Ye-jin's “Refund” (2018) and director Kwon Ye-ji's “Dong-a” (2018).

“As a film lover, I've selected films that I thought would be nice to watch again in theaters. The common thing about my selection is that they focus on characters and their emotional states,” Ryu said during a press conference held on Friday.

“It's an honor to be named the first programmer of the J Special program. I have a long history with JIFF. There were times when my films were invited to be screened. Three years ago, I was a judge for short films. I also visited the festival as a spectator,” she added.

Along with Ryu's program, the 22nd edition has two special sections: “Special Focus: I Am Independent,” which introduces films created by female directors, and “Special Focus: Corona, New Normal,” which deals with how the world responds to the pandemic.

On Friday, eight directors of Korea's international film festivals held a press conference to express their solidarity with the people of Myanmar and to support their pro-democracy movement. The Myanmar Democracy Network in Korea also attended the press conference to call for more support.

The festival will close with French illustrator Aurel's animated film, “Josep,” portraying Spanish illustrator Josep Bartoli, who fought against Franco's regime after the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. “Josep” was selected for the official lineup of the Cannes Film Festival last year.