Jeonju Celebrates 20th Anniversary in Style

NEWS & REPORTS
Feature

Feature

NEWS & REPORTS

Jeonju Celebrates 20th Anniversary in Style

May 14, 2019

Writerby Pierce Conran
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Korean Cinema’s Past and Present Luminaries Descend on Jeonju IFF

This month’s Jeonju International Film Festival offered film fans its usual blend of spring weather and bright new cinematic voices, but a pair of anniversaries made this year’s celebrations all the more special. 2019 saw Jeonju IFF celebrate its 20th year as one of the premiere arthouse festivals in Asia, and it also marked the centenary of Korean cinema, a milestone that was marked by a pair of very special programs as the festival welcomed record audience.

Kicking off on May 2, Jeonju IFF opened its doors with a screening of Claudio GIOVANNESI’s youth violence drama Piranhas, which earned the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay in Berlinale earlier this year. Closing the festival on the 11th was the American drama Skin by Guy NATTIV and starring Jamie BELL.

To celebrate its 20th edition, Jeonju put forward a new program called ‘Newtro Jeonju’, which showcased the works of contemporary artists whose works fit in with the ethos of the festival and who have frequently presented their films at Jeonju in the past. Many alumni from the Jeonju Cinema Projects returned with new works, including PARK Jeong-beom (Alive, 2015) with Height of the Wave, and Gyorgy PALFI (Free Fall, 2014) with his Canada-Hungary joint project His Master’s Voice.

The Jeonju Cinema Projects returned with four works this year, among them three homegrown titles — KIM Jong-kwan’s Shades of the Heart, KO Hee-young’s The Breathing of the Fire and JEON Jee-hee’s Somewhere in Between, — and Isadora’s Children from French cineaste Damien MANIVEL. Worst Woman (2016) director KIM applied his omnibus format to great affect in the ruminative and languid Shades of the Heart, which chronicles an author’s conversations with very different characters around him (including world-famous pop star IU aka LEE Ji-eun) as well as his own growth. JEON’s debut film features LEE Dong-hwi as law student who returns home and takes on a job in a small second run theater after failing the bar exam multiple times. Nostalgia and fears of responsibility permeate this acting showcase, which also features LEE Sang-hee. KO’s documentary powerfully explores a potter’s life’s work, while the fictional Isadora’s Children similarly looks at an artist, this time a dancer who prepares a solo show in the early 20th century following the death of her two children.

Looking at the competition sections, which held their awards on the 8th, the Grand Prize winners this year went to the China-Germany-Serbia co-production From Tomorrow On, I Will from directors Ivan MARKOVIC and WU LINFENG in the International Competition and KIM Sol and LEE Ji-hyoung’s Scattered Night in the Korean Competition. Also in the international section, Helvécio MARINS Jr.’s Brazil-Germany co-production Homing took the Best Picture Prize while the Special Jury Prize was reserved for Kavich NEANG’s Last Night I Saw You Smiling, a joint project from Cambodia and France.

Among the other awards handed out for the Korean lineup were KWAK Min-gyu's Best Actor award for his role in CHOI Chang-hwan’s Wave, and MOON Seung-a, who took the Best Actress prize for Scattered Night. CGV Arthouse gave its Distribution Support Prize to JEONG Da-woon’s The Sea of Itami Jun while Move the Grave by JEONG Seung-o took their Upcoming Project Prize. Wave also picked up a Special Mention from the jury.

Moving on to the Korean Competition for Shorts, the Grand Prize (KAFA Award) went to LEE Sang-hwan’s Parterre, the Best Director Prize (Sponsored by Kyobo Life Insurance) was won by Leo’s LEE Deok-chan, and LEE Woo-dong’s Sick took home the Special Jury Prize. Finally, the NETPAC Award went to Misho ANTADZE’s The Harvest from Georgia and the Documentary Award (Sponsored by Jin Motors) was taken by KIM Byung-gi’s local film Rivercide: The Secret Six.

Looking at the Jeonju Project Market, two films were selected to become Jeonju Cinema Projects, an honor that comes with KRW 100,000 (USD 84,000) in production support and guaranteed selection at next year’s Jeonju IFF. The projects were PARK Kun-young’s local A Far Place and Outside Noise from American filmmaker Ted FENDT. Among homegrown projects, other winners included three Jeonju Cinema Fund 2nd Grant recipients — JEONG Su-eun’s My name is KIM (KRW 10 million), YOO Ji-young’s Birth (KRW 8 million) and RYU Hyung-seok’s Corydoras (KRW 7 million). The Jeonju Cine Complex Award (Support for digital color grading and DCP) went to Corydoras and JUNG Hyung-suk’s Boys, the JICA Award (Support for sound mastering) was shared by YANG Ju-yeon’s My Missing Aunt and OH Jung-min’s The Only Son, and the FURMO DT Award (Support for international submission) was given to Boys and My Name is KIM.

Beyond the competition sections, the project and the new Newtro program, many of the hottest tickets this year were for the many films showcased in the 100 Years of Korean Cinema programs: ‘Another Upspring of Korean Cinema’, focusing on lesser known classics from some of Korea’s formative auteurs, and ‘Wild at Heart’, which presented some of the most famous works of contemporary Korean cinema. Many of the films in the ‘Wild at Heart’ program were accompanied by masterclasses with their directors, including KIM Jee-woon’s The Quiet Family (1998), YIM Soon-rye’s Waikiki Brothers (2001), PARK Chan-wook’s Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), JANG Joon-hwan’s Save the Green Planet (2003), IM Sang-soo’s The President’s Last Bang (2005) and NA Hong-jin’s The Yellow Sea (2010).

Armed with its diverse programs and standing by its clear slogan "Cinema, Liberated and Expressed”, Jeonju 2019, which featured 275 films from 53 countries, soared to record heights, with 391 of its 697 screenings sold out, helping it set a new record audience total with 85,900 tickets snatched up this year. With the support of local filmmakers and in return helping the next voices of Korea’s indie scene to be heard through its various support programs, the future looks bright for Jeonju, which will return for its 21st edition in the Spring of 2020.

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