Alternative filmmakers and digital flicks will be taking the spotlight at the sixth annual Jeonju International Film Festival.
The festival runs from April 28 to May 6 in the North Jeolla Province city under the theme, "Freedom, Independence, and Communication" and will feature over 170 films by directors from 31 countries.
Begun in 2000 to support Korea's struggling independent filmmakers, the festival, known as JIFF, now has a program that includes two competitive sections and screenings of classic films, as well as its digital short film project, where the festival invites three Asian directors to produce short works using digital technology. This year's participants are Song Il-gon from Korea, Shinya Tsukamoto from Japan and avant-garde Thai director Apitchatpong Weerasethakul.
A scene from "The Fifth Empire ?Yesterday as Today"
The festival kicks off on April 28 at 5 p.m. with the world premier of an omnibus film comprised of the three directors' works: Song's "Magician(s)" ("The Magician(s)"), Weerasethakul's "Worldly Desires", and Tsukamoto's "Haze". The festival will close with the world premier of Korean director Yim Phil-sung's feature-length film, "Antarctic Journal", which tells the story of an expedition to the hostile southern continent at the edge of the world. The two competitive sections are "Indie Vision" and "Digital Spectrum", with the award for each category amounting to $10,000 this year. The works of independent filmmakers will be screened in "Indie Vision", while films pushing the boundaries of digital technology will be shown in the "Digital Spectrum" category.
This year's program lineup also includes "Cinemascape", where viewers can assess recent worldwide trends in cinema through films like acclaimed Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira's "The Fifth Empire - Yesterday as Today" and up-and-coming Chinese filmmaker Xu Jinglei's "Letter from an Unknown Woman". Additional sections of the festival are "Cinema Palace, Midnight Obsession", which will screen classic but hard-to-access flicks for the public and "Korean Cinema on the Move", which will highlight new low-budget Korean films.
The Jeonju International Film Festival takes place at Chonbuk National University Cultural Center and Jeonju's Cinema District. For screening times, ticket purchases and more information, visit the official Web site at Open the link .
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