The act of creating films stems from the urge to present problems in the form of footage that combines images and sounds by borrowing a certain method of expression. However, films cannot come to fruition with freedom-filled creativity alone. Directors hit an uncontrollable wall as they reach the filming and editing stages. This is because films are not a type of art that is created by self-determined execution. Rather, they are a medium in which the other and the uncertainty of the world come together. As such, creativity in film production arises through the process of negotiating the clash between a creator’s will and the physical limitations imposed upon them. Short films, which face countless restrictions in time, money, and technology, have functioned as a way to explore new cinematic expressions with such restrictions as an essential feature.
For the 25th edition of the JEONJU International Film Festival (JEONJU IFF), a new record of 1,332 short films was submitted for the Korean Competition for Shorts. It seems short filmmakers have found a great amount of vitality after undergoing even more limitations in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent challenges faced by cinemas. Instead of film schools that homogenize individuals to the point of obscuring individuality or finished films that conform to the compromising system consisting of short film distributors and film festivals, what is needed is an attempt to awaken and jolt the calcified structure with a qualitative shift. In an age when the question “What can films do?” rings louder than before, the six judges focused on films that established a fundamental agenda around film creation and attempted to respond in their unique way instead of fixating on easily categorizable, surface-level subject matter or stories.
Though it may be easy to make superficial errors when categorizing films that have been produced with different conditions and environments based on specific tendencies, some vague impressions can still be drawn based on several signs. The first impression is that of healing. Most submissions that are speculated to be created after the pandemic portray similar sensibilities, such as a yearning to go back to the good ol’ times or a longing related to childhood memories or places. Scars left by epidemics are bound to lead communities toward more comfortable sentiments. However, we believe in Jean Renoir’s advice that “…we must try to escape from the spell of memories. Our salvation lies in plunging resolutely into the hell of the new world”. We are drawn toward efforts that recognize the world we live in has changed and respond to our changed lives in a sensitive way. The judges welcomed films that carved out the textures of lives turned upside down with moments such as a friend or family member’s death, dislocation from disaster or accidents, shifts in romantic relationships, and changes in one’s own body as films of true healing.
The second impression was that of transformation. Most films featured women, queer people, disabled people, children, and animals this year as well. However, they didn’t stop at simply depicting the environment such societal minorities face but made a notable attempt to make use of layered structures and storytelling devices to solidify what such people face within the world of film. The sensibilities and perspectives held by minorities have an effect on transforming the normal order of the world that pre-existing films tended to adhere to. The transformation of film media’s physical nature itself was also a sign that was found in experimental cinema and animation. Films that change the angle of the visible world, transform sound, and reconstitute their skin and body to create novel cinematic identities remind us that one film can provide us with several layers of perspectives to take in the world.
Considering the two contexts mentioned above, the selected short films are in a healing stage or undergoing transformation. An extension of such films brings the third impression: that of trust. When the world turns unfamiliar right in front of our eyes, will we still be able to believe in this strange world and films? In terms of both structure and narrative, today’s short films need to convey, enact, practice, and fix problems, the core of which perhaps falls in the category of trust. The judges supported projects that intertwined each filmmaker’s trust in the projects with a precise structure or format, which led to a sophisticated and specific physicality on screen and boasted continued tension that lasted until the last scene.
Within a world where there are so many films created outside the industry properly, along with the normalization of video production for various web platforms, the judges did their best to discover signs that hinted at creative practices within short films screened in cinemas as well as new potential avenues film culture could spread into. We hope that even more audience members will share in the rumination and discoveries held by the 25 films selected for the Korean Competition for Shorts section. We send a heartfelt thank you to all who submitted their precious film for our consideration.
The Preliminary Juries of Korean Competition for Shorts
KIM Byeonggyu, KEEM Youngle, KIM Hyunjung, SHIN Dongmin, LEE Bora, CHO Hyun-na, MOON Seok
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