Mai édition, c'est parti!

✔️A Look Back at the 10 Days in Snaps 📹

✔️ Award Winners of the 26th JEONJU IFF 🎉

International Competition

Grand Prize

Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) (Joel Alfonso VARGAS)

Best Picture Prize (Sponsored by NH Nonghyup)

Always (CHEN Deming)

Special Jury Prize

Resistance Reels (Alejandro ALVARADO JÓDAR, Concha BARQUERO ARTÉS)

Korean Competition

Grand Prize (Sponsored by FUJIFILM ELECTRONIC IMAGING KOREA)

Winter Light (CHO Hyun-suh)

NONGSHIM SHINRAMYUN Award

Summer's Camera (Divine SUNG)

Distribution Support Prize (Sponsored by JIWON)

3670 (PARK Joonho)

Best Actor Prize

SON So-ra All Is Well, I Love You. as So-ra

KIM Hyeonmok 3670 as Yeong-jun

CGV Award

3670 (PARK Joonho)

Watcha’s Award

3670 (PARK Joonho)

Special Mention for the Director

Where is My Father? (KIM Taeyun)

✔️ Last Days in Jeonju by SUSU🌼

# Always On My Mind

Did you know? This was my first job. The festival has ended—which means my work has come to an end, too. I hope this festival has become an unforgettable memory for all of you.

I’ve prepared the final edition of Life in Jeonju by SUSU. This time, I titled it “Last Days in Jeonju”, capturing the moments and emotions that happened during the festival.

Anyway, over the past five months, this experience has given me more than I can count.

I hope the JEONJU IFF was not only a chance to think about films, but also about yourself. I truly believe that everyone sees a part of themselves through cinema. Film becomes a lens of your own—and of course, it is for me, too.

# Cuz We Leave Buying Flowers

Have you heard of a short film in the Korean Competition called Those Who Leave Buy Flowers? When I first heard that title, it brought back old memories.

Back in high school, I had a friend who always came to school with a flower in hand. At the time, I was too cold-hearted to fully appreciate her affection. But a few years later, after we had drifted apart, I suddenly realized something: no one else would give me flowers the way she did. Whether or not that’s true, the thought lingered. That memory even led me to write a short poem titled Where Are Your Flowers?

As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to see how vulnerable that realization was. If I can be someone who gives a flower to another person—if the opportunity arises—I want to take it. Because flowers make people happy. They can lift the clouds away from someone’s gloomy day. I wanted to pass on the gratitude I once received from her to others, in my own way.

During the festival, I was responsible for coordinating with several guests. Whenever I greeted one, I brought a flower. Honestly, whether they looked delighted or not didn’t really matter to me (though in truth, everyone was happy to receive one!).

What mattered was how I felt buying the flower—I was genuinely pleased. At the end of the volunteers’ workday, my colleagues and I also prepared flowers for them. They loved it. Seeing their smiles made us happy, too. That’s the power of a flower: even though it will soon wither, it leaves something behind.

People leave, and flowers fade. Everything is temporary. But I believe that’s what makes life precious—just like this festival. All the sweat and struggles were leading toward an inevitable end. All the effort was meant for these ten days of journeying together.

We all know: every ending is connected to a beginning.

✔️ Special Focus: Share Your JEONJU 2! 😎

Share Your JEONJU Season 2 — SYJ is back!

The 26th edition has wrapped up! I hope this year’s festival was a meaningful experience for you, too.
Just like in Season 1, I’ve brought together some impressions and experiences from guests and journalists who attended this year's edition.
Take a look — and reflect on your own 26th JEONJU experience. How was it different from theirs?

Bella, Amylia, Siew-Hua, Amar, Terez, Marc, and Yuu

Bella💭 Our film Winter in Sokcho has been selected for the World Cinema section. As a Korean-French film, it was all the more meaningful and exciting for me to meet Korean audiences for the first time.

Siew-Hua💭 I've heard good things about the festival and the audience and I have never attended the festival in person before.

Yuu💭 I didn't participate in the festival for a long time, so I wanted to know about the festival today.

Bella💭 First of all, the charm of the city really stood out — it uniquely preserves the beauty of traditional Korean culture. After our two screenings, I was deeply impressed by how thoughtful and cinephile the Korean audiences are. I’m truly grateful for their insightful perspectives.

Amar💭 The films, period. It's hard, particularly in Asia, to see this many independent, adventurous, and experimental offerings at a single festival.

Terez💭 For me, the most important feature of the film festival is that you can see a lot of Korean films. I come mainly for these films. And attending the Q & A after the films is also important to get as much information about these films as possible. A very important and great feature of the festival was that all the Q & As had English interpretation. Thank you very much for the work of the interpreters. They were very excellent interpreters and I was extremely satisfied with their work.

Amylia💭 There were so many good movies, it's honestly hard to pick. But I'd say Mad Rush by Lee Hee Jun for short films, and Stranger Eyes for feature films. Mad Rush was so raw and vulnerable and so perfectly encapsulated the feeling of what it's like to struggle with one's mind that I felt the emotions of Byunghoon throughout. Stranger Eyes made me question so much about the state of the world we live in, where we're constantly under surveillance and constantly watching others... Both films (along with quite a number of other films actually) left such a deep impression on me that the emotions continue to linger.

Amar💭 I have three films on my mind but here I'll highlight Always by Deming Chen. It's a sumptuously shot, evocative documentary that subtly captures the end of its young protagonist's childhood. Chen's is the kind of lyrical and poetic film that stands out from the more orthodox story-driven documentaries.

Terez💭 My absolute favourite of the international film programme was Black Ox. This is entirely a matter of taste, I am a fan of these types of slow, arty films. This film is an outstanding piece of international art in my opinion. Of all the Korean films, SEA TIGER stood out for me, because the depiction of trauma was achieved in a very exciting and effective formal experiment. I think films like these best express the artistic character of the JEONJU IFF.

Amylia💭 JEONJU Cinetour x Music. I've gone to a few film festivals so the Q & A section has always been quite a standard programme, but enjoying a concert after a movie was a refreshing experience that I really enjoyed! I like that the singers chose the movie shown and shared their reasons and also performed songs that fit the vibes of the movies they chose.

Siew-Hua💭 Bibimbap making class. I did not manage to attend many other events aside from some film screenings.

Amar💭 The best program/event I attended were Meet the Festival and "Possible Cinemas" book talk (while I'm aware that these are two separate events, I'll name them both since they take the same form and were held in the same venue). Q & As and masterclasses are commonplace at almost any festival, but this kind of more focused sessions focusing on not just individual films but filmmaking approach and festival running know-how were rare opportunities of learning. I only wish they were a bit longer; at least 60 minutes and not just 40 minutes.

Terez💭 I really enjoyed all the talks with the filmmakers after the films, for me these were the most important events of the festival. My particular favourite programme was Pedro Costa's Master Class - he talked about his filmmaking in a very interesting way, it was a real intellectual experience, exactly what I as a film critic and a film fan would want at a festival.

Marc💭 Canada night party, was fun time, chance to interact in casual way

Yuu💭 J special: Programmer of the year, I was able to enjoy the wonderful films chosen by the programmer. Also, I could feel her ability as an actor and director.

Amylia💭 Possibly walking out of the theatres to live singing at the open stage next to Megabox. I thought that was quite interesting - but was wondering if there wasn't a better location for the open stage…

Siew-Hua💭 Presenting my film after the screening.

Terez💭 Besides the films, the new acquaintances and encounters will be the most memorable. Alongside the film critics I have newly met, I have also met some great and helpful people in the festival team. Thank you very much for their kindness and helpfulness.

Marc💭 Adrian Martin lectures.

7. Would you like to visit the JEONJU IFF or Jeonju again? and Why?

Everyone - Yes!

Bella💭 Such a heartwarming welcome and the food was amazing! (I have to mention, the breakfast at the Kkoksim hotel was amazing, thank you so much) The whole atmosphere was so lively and full of energy. It felt way too short to fully enjoy the festival… but next time, I definitely will.

Amylia💭 There were quite a lot of movies I wanted to watch at the festival that I didn't get the chance to because of the lack of time, which is proof that the programming is great! I especially appreciate the inclusion of the Palestine film From Ground Zero because it is so important for movies and film festivals to be a platform for social issues. So I hope the festival keeps it up, and thank you so much.

Amar💭 The films were so good and plenty that I want to visit the festival again. And because the films were so good and plenty, I ended up not seeing much of the beautiful city itself, so I want to visit Jeonju again as well.

Terez💭 The JEONJU International Film Festival is the best place to see as many independent Korean films as possible in the shortest possible time. Festival of my dreams :)

Bella💭 Thank you so much once again. I was truly honored to be part of the 26th JEONJU International Film Festival. Hope to see you again soon!

Siew-Hua💭 I was well taken care of by the festival staff and volunteers.

Amar💭 At the risk of repeating myself too many times: I believe the festival can do better in connecting the filmmakers, press members, industry guests, and the festival staff. Looking forward to the 27th edition!

Terez💭 I enjoyed the film festival immensely. Thanks to all the organisers, staff and helpers. I wish you every success in the future!