JEONJU International Film Festival’s International Competition section is a platform where filmmakers with their own visions and styles vie with each other. Just as other years, we have invited the first or second works of eight emerging filmmakers this year.
The first four are the works of female filmmakers. Moroccan filmmaker Maryam TOUZANI’s feature debut Adam depicts the friendship and compassion between a widowed middle-aged woman and an unwed pregnant mother, as well as their emotional journey to find themselves. Portuguese filmmaker Catarina VASCONCELOS’ feature debut The Metamorphosis of Birds is a hybrid documentary film that boasts of sensuous visual style as it tells an autobiographical story about the relationship between the director herself and her father. Belgium’s Zoé WITTOCK directed Jumbo, her first feature-length film after four shorts. Jumbo tells a fantastic story of Jeanne, the protagonist of the film who started working at a theme park out of her love for the carousel, falling in love with a new ride. Argentina’s Clarisa NAVAS came back with her second feature-length film, One in a Thousand tells a love story between two girls in a ghetto area where is neglected by their country, despite social prejudice and prevalent hatred.
Chinese filmmaker GAO Ming who’d made a feature-length film debut with a documentary returns with a feature film, Damp Season, a story about four men and women set during a season when the humidity level shoots up to over 90 percent causing major discomfort. Japan’s NAKAO Hiromichi also features his first film OBAKE, which is also a making film of the film as well as the filmmaker’s resume detailing his work methods and a unique “film about making a film.” Luis López CARRASCO’s second film The Year of the Discovery is an interesting documentary about the lives of the townspeople at a bar in Cartagena, an industrial city in southern Spain, which suffered a socio-economic crisis after its people burned down the city’s parliament in 1992. Last but not least, Uruguay’s Alex PIPERNO showcases his feature debut Window Boy Would also Like to Have a Submarine, a mysterious story with dreamlike images about transcending the spatial boundaries through hidden doors on a cruise.
From films that offer new perspectives on the relationship between people to the film that depicts the love between a human and an amusement park ride, as well as a film that takes a look at the making of a film, and a documentary about the lives of local communities, this year’s International Competition will draw the audiences into the passionate and unique views of young filmmakers.
Programmer CHUN Jinsu
fold -
Independent films are like mirrors that reflect society. This year, the 125 films submitted to the Korean Competition Section at the JEONJU International Film Festival reveal the true nature of present Korean society. These films dealt with serious problems we are facing such as extreme poverty and suffering, the tyranny of topdogs and conflict between underdogs, and discrimination and violence against women in this polarized world.
The highlight of this year is the various issues toward women. Gull is a film that captures the spirit of Me Too movement. Through the story of a middle-aged woman, who has been sexually abused by her acquaintance, it poignantly follows the process of a marginalized being living under pressure to eventually protecting her own rights. Dispatch; I Don’t Fire Myself looks into women’s issues through the spectrum of labor. It captures the woman’s dignified figure despite the discrimination from subcontractors and discrimination against women. Take Me Home discovers women in the subject of LGBTQ and family. A girl who lost her mother from an accident starts living with her aunt and her partner. Through this process, she questions the nature of family. It also sheds light on the limited living conditions of sexual minorities. Blessedness: Monsters and Specters is another film that actively defends sexual minorities. Somewhat difficult but using challenging cinematic language, this is a queer film with new sensibility where melodramatic elements or complaints against society do not exist.
Several films address issues on social polarization and poverty which are getting worse and worse. Daldongne 33 Up is a monumental documentary by Dongguk University professor CHO Uhn who traced the life of a family for the past 33 years. This documentary consistently traces a family that resettles in Sanggye-dong after being evicted from Sadang-dong redevelopment project and shows how their lives changed since her previous docmenatary A Nice Place (2009). Homeless illustrates the struggles of a young couple raising a newborn desperately looking for home. It depicts the young couple that cannot even find a room to stay despite their utmost efforts with warm perspective. Black Light tells the story of two families suffering from the aftereffects of an accident that took place one night. It convincingly shows how two women who have continuously reached their breaking point finally realizes that the source of the pain is not each other. Please Don’t Save Me is a film that tells the story of a mother and daughter in extreme conditions due to economic poverty from the perspective of a child. It reminds us that a pure heart like a child can sometimes be a real comfort.
Mom’s Song tells the story of a family through frivolous traces of life. A new attempt of featuring the director’s real mother oddly brings the film to life. DUST-MAN depicts the process of how a young man living with a group of homeless people ends up getting new life opportunities through art. “Dust drawings” that summarizes the subject of the film also provide visual pleasure. Midsummer Madness portrays the daily life of a woman who dreams of becoming a poet. Watching her grow little by little as she meets a variety of people and experiences all kinds of episodes on her path of writing poems is quite entertaining.
Programmer MOON Seok
fold -
Perhaps the reason why Korean short films appeal particularly strongly to the audience is that they unfold stories that everyone can relate to. This year’s submissions for Korean Competition for Shorts also focused on the most pressing issues that are taking place in now and here of Korean society. Among them, the trend of 2020 can be summarized as women, socially weak and social safety net, and media change. Especially this year, there is a high proportion of female creators. As reflected in this, majority of films expressed ideas from the women’s perspective. The age group of women the films captured is also broad from young girls to elderly retiree, and each voiced their own thoughts. Full Moon by NAM Soona, Dear Juhee by OH Hyundo, and Moth by JUNG Yeonjoo are depicting the intensity of life exploiting the female protagonists, while Expiration Date by YOO Joonmin, The Thread by CHO Minjae and LEE Nayeon, and Driving School by YU Sujin are incorporating the various voices of working women.
Many films also demonstrate interest in the socially weak, especially efforts to depict disability as an everyday life and partnership instead of a special situation or objectification. In other words, there are many films that one could sense the directors’ mindset to approach these stories of disability, race, sexual orientation, and type of families with an “ethical attitude.” Fanning by JEON Yejin, We Bloom by KIM Yulhee, and Casually, for the Worse by KIM Yewon are films that portray the socially weak with warm perspective.
Another feature of this year’s submissions for Korean Competition for Shorts is the increase in the number of films based on the changing media environment in the sense that short films mainly represent the voices of young creators. In particular, films that dealt with issues with social media such as Instagram and Twitter or emotions and problems of YouTube users stand out. Among them,
Mouth & Mouth Fighter by SEO Gahyeon, which focuses on the life of a YouTuber, deserves attention. Meanwhile, it is peculiar to see that the number of science fiction submissions have increased, and the narrative trend of Korean commercial film industry head for the genre. Especially, Porosity Valley 2: Tricksters’ Plot, an experimental film by director KIM Ayoung, is quite interesting. The film not only provides visual novelty, but also unfolds contemporary concerns about refugees and immigrants in a futuristic way called science fiction. Moreover, many other submissions deal with dystopian worldviews such as low birthrate, dominant gene obsession, and fear of world destruction, to gauge the world perception of young creators of this era.
The submissions and selections from the Korean Competition for Shorts of JEONJU IFF 2020 eventually come down to “diversity.” There are films that express various subject matters in creative way across the boundaries of fiction, documentary, and experimental film and films with their own style within the aesthetics of short films, that are working “in the matter of minutes.” These films not only provide the audience with visual pleasure, but also it will create an opportunity to re-evaluate the present time through them.
fold -