The 24th JEONJU International Film Festival Holds the 10th JEONJU Cinema Project Anniversary

- To screen OUR PRESIDENT, The First Lap, and more films at the special section, JEONJU Cinema Project: A film festival as a producer

- To publish the history book, JEONJU Cinema Project: Ten years dreaming of a film festival as a producer

- To host JEONJU Conference 2023 to overlook the future of the JEONJU Cinema Project

The JEONJU International Film Festival (JEONJU IFF, Festival Co-Director Min Sungwook and Jung Junho) announced the special section for the 10th JEONJU Cinema Project, JEONJU Cinema Project: A film festival as a producer, along with the history book publication and conferences.

To promote the production of low-budget feature films, the JEONJU Cinema Project became the JEONJU IFF’s representative program which has invested in producing 33 domestic and international independent and art films since 2014. Started in 2000 with a slogan of ‘Alternative, Independent, and Digital’, JEONJU IFF launched the Jeonju Cinema Project, carrying on the innovative spirit of the Jeonju Digital Project and Short! Short! Short!―short film production programs focusing on digital filmmaking―and expanding its boundaries from shorts to features. This year’s special section is expected to wrap up the past ten years of the JEONJU Project and prepare for the new decade.

The 24th JEONJU IFF will screen ten early and mid-term films among 33 films of the JEONJU Cinema Project selection in the special section, JEONJU Cinema Project: A festival as a producer. Films loved by both audiences and critics will be shown, including OUR PRESIDENT (Lee Changjae, 2017), the biggest hit documentary of the JEONJU Cinema Project attracting 1,85 million moviegoers, Isadora’s Children (Damien Manivel, 2019), the winner of the best director prize at the Locarno IFF, and The First Lap (Kim Daehwan, 2017), the winner of the Filmmakers of the Present at the Locarno IFF.

In addition, the special history book for the 10th anniversary, JEONJU Cinema Project: Ten years dreaming of a film festival as a producer, will be published. The history of the JEONJU Cinema Project is traced by Jung Sung-il, the first JEONJU IFF programmer and film critic who designed the project Digital Short Films by Three Filmmakers, Kim Young-Jin, the former chief programmer who launched the JEONJU Cinema Project, Lee Sangyong, the former programmer, Jang Byungwon, the former programmer, summarized the history of the JEONJU Cinema Project. The book also includes reflections of the producers and directors who participated in the project, and the achievements and directions for improvement of the JEONJU Cinema Project from the outside perspective.

The book also contains messages from the directors and producers who participated in the JEONJU Cinema Project, as well as reviews from domestic and international film critics for the 33 works selected for the JEONJU Cinema Project. The critics interpreted each work in their way. In particular, all 30 contributors to the book are female critics, in order to look from a new perspective at the JEONJU Cinema Project, which had a gender imbalance, since only six out of 33 films were made by female filmmakers. The writer lineup consists of Korea’s renowned female film critics like Kim Haery, Sohn Hee-jeong, Mo Eun Young, Cho Hye Young, and Shin Eun-shil, as well as members of the editorial board from Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Film Comment, Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight and Sound, and Guardian who have been voicing their opinions on the film industry and film culture. Editors critique the works of the JEONJU Cinema Project from various perspectives.

Meanwhile, the JEONJU Cinema Project will hold the JEONJU Conference 2023 with the theme, Better Tomorrow Than Yesterday, Dreaming of Expanding Cinema. In the first session, Ten Years of the JEONJU Cinema Project: Time to Change, achievements for the last ten years will be summarized, and discuss what changes will be needed for the future, according to a changed film industry environment since the project launched. It also considers expanding production investment and collaborating with film festivals and other platforms.

In the second session, a talk program with the theme, Joys and Sorrows of Making Independent and Art Films, is prepared. Korean and international directors who participated in the JEONJU Cinema Project will share their experiences of creating independent, artistic, and experimental films in this era. In particular, the session will focus on the stories of directors who continue to create despite the difficult budgetary environment.

The last session will introduce new films to more insiders and audiences with the theme, The Role of Film Festivals in the Endemic Era. Beyond the original role of film festivals, it considers what role film festivals can play in terms of production investment, education, creation, and distribution support. JEONJU and insiders from leading overseas film festivals, including Locarno, Sundance, San Sebastian, and PIA, will gather and discuss the role of the festival they dream of each other and how they envision the future of film festivals.

Sung Moon, the programmer who oversees the 10th anniversary special section of the JEONJU Cinema Project, said, “I hope the JEONJU Cinema Project: A festival as a producer will provide a space to reflect on the history of the past ten years and to discuss future directions.”

The 24th JEONJU IFF will be held from Thursday, April 27 to Saturday, May 6, 2023, in and around Jeonju Film Street.