Jeonju film fete marks 10th birthday with success

By Shin Hae-in
JEONJU, South Korea, May 8 (Yonhap) -- The Jeonju International Film Festival
(JIFF) on Friday ended its successful nine-day run, during which it featured 200
films from 42 different countries under the theme "Freedom, Independence,
Communication."

The first event had opened more or less quietly 10 years ago, featuring mostly
domestic indie films by little known directors. Now, thousands from in and out of
the country flock to this little regional South Korean city each spring to attend
its international film fest that has grown into one of Asia's largest.
Opening with "Short! Short! Short! 2009," a digital omnibus film created by 10
promising South Korean directors, the festival closed with Sri Lankan director
Uberto Pasolini's "Machan." The closing film, created by the producer of 1997
smash hit "The Full Monty," is a neo-realistic comedy where 23 financially
devastated men from a Sri Lankan slum village ploy to get visas to Europe to
overcome their crisis.
Held each year in the city of Jeonju, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul, JIFF
is especially noted for highlighting undiscovered films from non-Western regions
and supporting independent filmmakers.
"The Jeonju festival is very progressive and very fresh. It's not a festival that
wants to give an award to the most conventional film," Adrian Martin, the jury
member of the JIFF international competition section, said in an earlier
interview with Yonhap. "So jurors feel free to pick something that's more
challenging or unusual -- something 'out of the box.'"
This year's JIFF had matched up every expectation, highlighting talented
filmmakers from Sri Lanka including Dharmasena Pathiraja and Prasanna Vithanage
in its "Discovery: Sri Lankan Cinema" section.
"It remains one of our greatest tasks to discover unknown gems across the world
by introducing unfamiliar but aesthetic films," said Yoo Un-sung, JIFF
programmer.
The event also had a retrospective screening of the works of acclaimed Polish
auteur Jerzy Skolimowski, who recently released "Four Nights with Anna," earning
plaudits from international critics after a 17 year absence.
This year's "The Jeonju Three Digital Shorts Project" had drawn many compliments
from critics and ordinary viewers alike, featuring creations of South Korea's
Hong Sang-soo, Japan's Naomi Kawase and the Philippines' Lav Diaz under the
united theme "Visitors."
The project is considered JIFF's core program, providing 50 million won (about
US$37,000) to each of the three directors chosen annually to produce short
digital pieces to be premiered at the event.
"I think it was kind of fate for all three of us to have talked about one
subject," said Kawase, Japan's leading female director who won the Cannes 2007
Grand Prix. "This opportunity has made me think more about the possibilities and
hopes of working together with Korean directors in the future."
The small provincial city is expected to see at least 3 billion won in direct
profit from the film fest, according to organizers. Jeonju bibimbab -- mixed rice
bowl -- and volunteer workers in yellow jumpers have long been considered the
city's trademark to outlanders. This year JIFF picked 500 volunteer workers,
mostly young students looking for experience and fun.
Winners of the Woosuk Award -- JIFF's top prize for international feature films
and documentaries with a running time of more than 60 minutes -- and the Korean
feature and shorts competitions will be announced after the closing event to be
hosted by actor Oh Man-seok and actress Seo Young-hee.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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