Director Bong Man-dae Reappointed, Park Myunghoon and Others Named PR Ambassadors
Main Festival to Be Held Over Three Days in October
Yecheon County in North Gyeongsang Province is accelerating its leap toward becoming a cultural city through a smartphone-based video content festival. The Yecheon International Smartphone Film Festival, which has established itself as a participatory creative platform, held its launch ceremony again this year and has begun full-scale preparations.
The Yecheon International Smartphone Film Festival Organizing Committee, a corporation, announced that it held the launch ceremony for the 8th festival on the 24th at the Samgang Song Am Cafe. Around 60 organizing committee members, including Yecheon County Mayor Kim Hakdong and Organizing Committee Chairperson Jeong Jaesong, attended the event, where they appointed new committee members, shared the progress of the festival’s preparations, and reaffirmed their commitment to a successful event.
This year’s festival will be held under the slogan "We make movies! movies make history!" and plans to use the smartphone, a widely accessible production tool, to expand participation by creators at home and abroad, while focusing on promoting Yecheon as a hub city for video and cultural content.
At the launch ceremony, Director Bong Man-dae was reappointed as Artistic Director, ensuring continuity in the festival’s artistic quality. In addition, actors Park Myunghoon, Kim Seunghee, and Lee Hocheol were newly appointed as public relations ambassadors, and will help promote the festival and raise its external profile.
Mayor Kim Hakdong said, "As the enthusiasm for participation among creators from Korea and overseas grows every year, the festival is becoming an important foundation for strengthening Yecheon’s cultural competitiveness," adding, "By leveraging our distinction as the only smartphone film festival in Korea, we will continue to enhance Yecheon’s cultural stature."
Submissions will be accepted through the official website from May 4 to July 3, and the award-winning works selected through screening will be announced on October 9. The festival is scheduled to begin with a street eve event on October 8 on the Walking Street, followed by an opening ceremony on a special outdoor stage near the Gyeongbuk Provincial Library on the 9th, and a closing ceremony at Megabox on the 10th.
In an era when anyone can make a film with a device in their hand, the Yecheon International Smartphone Film Festival is regarded as a symbolic example of how the popularization of technology can lower the barriers to cultural creation. As local spaces and stories are reinterpreted into video content and the festival evolves into a cultural platform that simultaneously drives tourism, youth, and creative industries, attention is focusing on whether this year’s event will become a turning point that elevates Yecheon’s city brand to the next level.
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