Two promotional posters for the 20th Jeonju International Film Festival. (image: JIFF Organizing Committee)
SEOUL, Apr. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The annual international film festival hosted by the South Korean heritage city of Jeonju will show 262 films from 52 different countries as it rolls out the red carpet early next month, the event’s organizer said Wednesday.
The 20th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) will kick off its 10-day run on May 2 with this year’s slogan “Cinema, Liberated and Expressed.” It’s the same as last year’s but with the addition of a comma.
“Piranhas,” a novel-based movie by Italian director Claudio Giovannesi has been chosen as the opening film for the celebrated film festival, while “Skin,” an Oscar-winning film by Israeli director Guy Nattiv, will close the event, according to the organizer.
In total, 262 movies — 202 full-length and 60 short films — will hit the screens in Jeonju, a city that provides a glimpse into traditional Korean culture and life.
Noteworthy experimental films in the lineup include “Communion Los Angeles” and “Ghost Town Anthology,” both to be screened in the “Newtro Jeonju” category.
Four new films will premier as part of the festival’s unique program to fund directors, Jeonju Cinema Project, formerly known as Jeonju Digital Project, including “Isadora’s Children” by Damien Manivel and “The Breathing of the Fire,” a documentary by Ko Hee-young.
The festival also features a special exhibition chronicling the 100-year history of Korean films as well as an archive on the “Star Wars” film series.
“This year’s 20th JIFF will go beyond freedom of expression to explore many different manners of expression,” Jeonju Mayor Kim Seung-su, the head of the festival’s organizing committee, said in a press conference. “Led by the film festival, I plan to make Jeonju a city moviegoers want to visit.”
(Yonhap)
