Screening '96 Films from 6 Countries' Without Exclusive Theater
Opening Film 'Aba: Legend'... Jun Hyun-moo Hosts Opening Ceremony
Since its launch in 2005, the Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (JIMFF), which has been held every August during the summer, is moving its schedule to early autumn for a fresh start.
The 20th Jecheon Music & Film Festival will open at 7 p.m. on the 5th at the Jecheon Arts Center in Chungbuk. The event will be hosted by broadcaster Jeon Hyun-moo. The opening film is the British documentary "ABBA: The Legend," and the closing film is the Japanese animation "Cheer Up, Mr. Lee." From now until the 10th, 96 films from 16 countries will be screened throughout Jecheon city.
This year, the festival will be held without a dedicated movie theater due to the recent closure of Jecheon’s multiplex cinema. Films will be screened at the Jecheon Arts Center, Jecheon Culture Hall, Semyung University’s Taeyang Art Hall, Semyung University’s Creative Cube, Cheongpung Resort Convention Hall, Jecheon Video Media Center Bom, and the Uirimji Drive-in Theater. Six films will compete in the International Feature Competition, six feature films and twelve short films will compete in the Korean Competition. The grand prize for the international competition carries a cash award of 20 million KRW, the Korean competition feature film prize is 10 million KRW, and the short film prize is 5 million KRW.
The Jecheon Film Festival awards prizes in the "International Competition" and "Korean Competition" categories. The chair of the international competition jury is Shunji Iwai, director of films such as "Love Letter" (1995) and "Hana and Alice" (2004). Jury members include director Lee Hwang-gang, known for "Sugar Candy" (2006), "Miracle in Cell No. 7" (2012), and "The Neighbor" (2018), actor Jung Woo, Byun Seung-min, CEO of production company Climax Studio, and Danish film critic Anne Lind Andersen, who has served as a juror at Cannes and Venice Film Festivals.
The Korean Competition jury consists of Danish film composer Anna Rosengilde, producer Kim Hyung-jun, who has produced 25 films including "Silmido" (2003), and director Lee Seung-won of "Three Sisters" (2020). Director Shunji Iwai, visiting Korea as the chair of the international competition jury, will hold a special exhibition and special talks during the festival. The special exhibition will screen "Swallowtail Butterfly" (1996), "All About Lily Chou-Chou" (2001), and "Kyrie’s Song: Director’s Cut" (2023).
The Jecheon Film Musician Award will be presented to film composer Ryoga Yoshimata, known for the film "Crying Out Love in the Center of the World" (2001) and the drama "One Hundred Million Stars Falling from the Sky" (2012). Ryoga Yoshimata will also hold a talk concert at the Jecheon Arts Center at 5 p.m. on the 7th.
The festival’s flagship program, "One Summer Night," will be held on the special stage at Cheongpung Land on the 6th and 7th. On the 6th, groups VIVIZ, QWER, Lee Mujin, and Hyun Jin-young will perform, and on the 7th, Triple H, Han Seung-woo, Aimer, Kim Hyun-jung, and Kim Soo-chul will take the stage. The film concert for the 20th anniversary of the movie "Taegukgi" will be held at 7 p.m. on the 6th at the Jecheon Arts Center.
Im Hyun-sik, formerly of the group BTOB, will participate in the festival’s main performance program "One Summer Night." Im Hyun-sik also stars in the documentary film "The Young Man and the Deep Sea" (2023), which chronicles the making of a music video. Tickets for this film have been resold online at prices many times higher than face value, prompting the festival organizers to monitor the situation. The festival stated, "We will impose all possible sanctions if ticket scalping is detected."
A special exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of director Lee Jang-ho’s debut will feature films such as "The Home of Stars" (1974), "A Good Day to Wind" (1980), and "Declaration of Idiocy" (1983). Other events include the screening of the sign language film "Soulmate" (directed by Min Yong-geun) and the "Ghent Film Festival: 2x25 Project" commemorating the exchange with the European music film festival.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
