Korean and Global Indie Cinema Shines at 19th Jeonju Film Festival

NEWS & REPORTS
Feature

Feature

NEWS & REPORTS

Korean and Global Indie Cinema Shines at 19th Jeonju Film Festival

May 15, 2018

Writerby Pierce Conran
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THE HEIRESSES and THE LAND OF SEONGHYE Take JIFF Grand Prizes

Held a week later than usual in late spring this year, the Jeonju International Film Festival opened the doors to its 19th edition on May 3, just in time for the clouds overhead to part and welcome 10 days of independent cinema from all around the world. Kicking off this year’s festivities was opening film Yakiniku Dragon. From CHONG Wishing, the film focuses on a Korean family and their struggles in Japan in the 1970s.

With an expanded Jeonju Cinema Project program, which comprised five titles, and an eclectic mix of timely works across the various program sections that drew strong acclaim, particularly with an unusually strong lineup of local titles, this year’s JIFF delighted viewers until May 12, when it closed with Wes Anderson’s latest film Isle of Dogs, which served as the opening film of the Berlin International Film Festival in February. Topping this years’ awards were Marcelo Martinessi’s The Heiresses and JUNG Hyung-suk’s The Land of Seonghye, which earned the Grand Prizes in the International Competition and Korean Competition, respectively.

After expanding from short to feature films in 2014, the Jeonju Cinema Projects have once again expanded in 2018 by growing from three to five features. This year’s lineup included three homegrown works, JANG Woo-jin’s Winter's Night, LEE Hark-joon’s A Good Business and LIM Tae-gue’s The Land on the Waves, and a brace of international works, Alejandro Fernandez Almendras’ Czech Republic, Chile, Korea and France co-production The Best We Can and Camila Jose Donoso’s NONA. If You Soak Me, I Will Burn You, a co-production between Chile, Brazil, France and Korea.

Among the Korean JCP titles, A Good Business, the new non-fiction work from documentarian LEE, who previously made 9 Muses of Star Empire (2014) and Heaven's Border (2016), focuses on a human rights activist, a Korean pastor who helps North Korean defectors escape China. A fascinating work that shows both sides of the morality of the pastor’s work, A Good Business occasionally plays like a thriller as it carefully releases a trickle of information on the complex humanitarian work he engages in.

Director JANG, whose debut A Fresh Start (2014) earned the Grand Prize in the Korean Competition in Jeonju in 2014, returned to town with his third work Winter's Night. Echoing his previous film Autumn, Autumn (2016), which debuted at the Busan International Film Festival in 2016, JANG’s work takes place in his hometown of Chuncheon, as a middle-aged married couple return 30 years after their last trip in the town before they became a couple. Stuck overnight on an island when they miss the last ferry, they relive the past while they also cross paths with two youths whose situation resembles their own from their earlier trip.

Back in Jeonju a year after winning the Grand Prize for his debut The Seeds of Violence (2017), director LIM once again explore stark family dynamics within a unique Korean setting with The Land on the Waves. The film follows a middle-aged man who returns to his hometown when his father, who had spent decades in jail as a wrongly convicted North Korean spy, lies on his deathbed. At the same time, the film explores the man’s complicated relationship with his own son, who is dating an older woman with a child from a previous relationship.

10 new tiles from fresh independent voices in Korea were presented in the ‘Korean Competition’ lineup this year. The list included I Have a Date with Spring, the latest film from Members of the Funeral (2009) director BAEK Seung-bin, which had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January. Among the other titles receiving buzz in the section was Graduation, the impressive debut film of the 23-year-old women filmmaker HUI Ji-ye, as well as the charming romantic comedy Mate from JUNG Dae-gun, one of the new feature projects from the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA).

Several exciting titles also found their way into the ‘Korea Cinemascape’ section, which generally focuses on works from more established filmmakers. One of those was roooom, a quasi-omnibus film from Voice (2005) director CHOI Equan, which explores several stories taking place among the residents of a building in Western Seoul. KO Bong-soo was back in Jeonju for the third time on the trot with the black and white comedy Hello Dayoung, which followed his well-received comedy-dramas Delta Boys (2017) and Loser's Adventure. Meanwhile, award-winning short filmmakers KIM In-seon (Wednesday Prayer Group, 2016) graduated to feature filmmaking with the drama Adulthood, featuring UM Tae-goo, the memorable villain of KIM Jee-woon’s The Age of Shadows (2016).

Some commercial heavy hitters were also featured in the ‘Korea Cinemascape’ lineup, supported by celebrity guests. These included the recent North Korea-themed action-drama Steel Rain (2017), with star JUNG Woo-sung in attendance, the Cannes Out of Competition horror-thriller THE WAILING (2016), with director NA Hong-jin in town for a ‘Cinema Class’, as well as JANG Joon-hwan’s 1987: When the Day Comes (2017), also screening as a ‘Cinema Class’.

Beyond the Grand Prize win for the Paraguayan film The Heiresses, the jury for the International Competition reserved a Best Picture Prize for the USA, Turkey and Netherlands co-production Distant Constellation by Shevaun MIZRAHI, as well as a Special Jury Prize for Malene CHOI Jensen’s The Return, a Danish-Korean co-production that debuted in Berlin earlier this year.

Joining Grand Prize winner The Land of Seonghye in the Korean Competition prize list was CHO Sung-bin’s Dreamer, which won the CGV ARTHOUSE Distribution Support Prize, CHOI Chang-hwan's Back from the Beat, awarded the CGV ARTHOUSE Upcoming Project Prize, Union Award winner Graduation from HUI Ji-ye, LEE Jo-hoon’s Land of Sorrow, which walked away with the Documentary Award – Jin Motors Award, and finally the NETPAC Award winner Adulthood by KIM In-seon.

Meanwhile, the Grand Prize in the Short Film Competition went to KWON Ye-ji’s Dong-a, SONG Ye-jin’s Refund won the Best Director Prize and the Special Jury Prize went to Apocalypse Runner by CHO Hyun-min.

Also taking place during the festival was the Jeonju Project Market which staged its 10th edition this year. JPM is an industry program that is designed to deepen the festival’s connection to the film industry and to foster independent Korean cinema. This year, the two projects that earned JPM awards were KO Hee-young’s Breathing of Fire and Damien Manivel’s Diary of a Dancer. Both films will now receive support and will be included as Jeonju Cinema Projects in next year’s edition of JIFF. In a statement, the JPM jury called Diary of a Dancer as “a love story and a story about work; the work of gazing and the work of welcoming; the work of starting a new and the work of remembering that all human beings are ‘bodies’”.

Following a successful 19th edition, the Jeonju International Film Festival team can now take a brief break before getting down to preparations for next year’s 20th anniversary, which will no doubt yield a fresh crop of exciting and insightful Korean and global independent works.

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