Expanded Cinema is one of the sections that best represents the “alternative,” the slogan of the JEONJU IFF. As an alternative to the traditional and customary film format, this section has introduced exceptional cinematic experiments around the world. This year, it has gone one step further and included films that attempt aesthetic novelty not only in their forms but also in their story composition and thematic expression.

The Great Movement is the second feature film released by Kiro Russo, one of the most unique directors in Latin American cinema. It is a kind of "urban symphony" that takes place in La Paz (located in the high mountains of Bolivia), and deals with the illness and salvation of day laborers. They Carry Death uses the historical drama genre to look back on the moment the colonial history of the Americas was born, and refers to the memories that persist after death. Meanwhile, The Invisible Mountain by Ben Russell finds a place between documentary and fiction to depict a virtual universe close to reality through its protagonists.

The revolution referred in the title of Let´s Say Revolution begins with the film itself. Nicolas Klotz and Elisabeth Perceval create a “visual poem” that travels around the world and the present state through archive images. Herbaria by Leandro Listorti bridges the world of plant collection and film preservation. With the heart of composing a poem, the film creates an invisible connection of representation and memory between the two worlds. Red Star attempts to unravel the myth of the Russian Revolution armed with ancient texts. Two young men, who visit the roofs of abandoned buildings and Katya, who was a young protagonist of those years, guide the audience through the remnants of a grand past.

Nuclear Family, directed by Erin Wilkerson and Travis Wilkerson, is a family road movie that connects the personal stories of wars with disasters that have brought fear to mankind. It can also be described as a geographic journey through the United States, which, despite its ignorant demeanor, is still riddled with problems it will have to face in the future. In Topology of Sirens, the protagonist, who dreams of becoming a musician, accidentally discovers a cassette tape at the house of a recently deceased relative. With this, the film embarks on a mysterious journey toward the beautiful sounds that compose the past as well as the world.

In Detours, the dangers of the virtual world are mixed with reality. Innocent at first, the game in the film has an impact on the real world, and takes place while wandering the city of Moscow, which only becomes more desolate as time passes. Isiah Medina, director of Night is Limpid, is Canada’s most secretive and astonishing director. Following the uniqueness of his previous work 88:88 (2015), his new film discovers a form in which dialogue between characters becomes a cinematic experiment.

The 15 short films introduced by Expanded Cinema range from completely experimental works to narrative films that show the beauty of a terrible world. These films display certain analyses of politics, history, and the past, new interpretations of the present, and humor and prove that a film can be created with absolute freedom.

Written by Programmer Sung MOON