April 2024 – Article by Jason Verney🎗    

This April marks great significance for this film reviewer, interviewer and filmmaker.  Sadly though, although I could be celebrating this 10th journey of mine into the land of Korea (my first visit being way back in 2012), the month I arrive and the 16th of that month in particular, marks the 10th Year Anniversary of the Sewol Ferry (세월호) tragedy, which is also a cause or issue I’ve been in full support of ever since it occurred in 2014.

I usually visit Busan later in the year and coincide my extended trips (up to 3 months often!) with the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), but I purposely arrive on the 11th April, ahead of some of the 10 year Sewol anniversary events occurring in this month.

[Speaking of Busan, it’s a shame that I wasn’t in Busan for this Sewol related event – which also travelled through various places in Korea:  Seoul, Mokpo etc – the latter place being where the Sewol Ferry stands and somewhere I’ve been to, to pay respects and document for a film of mine, on more than one occasion].

It’s perhaps, though, with some fortune that I also plan to attend the 25th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) at the start of May 2024, as it would transpire that they are to show a few films relating to Sewol.

This revisit to Jeonju itself and indeed the festival will be a surreal, sad and poignant one for yours truly.  Not only has it been several years since my last time time there – and I have fond memories of both the city and JIFF – it will be my first time in Korea in Springtime since a few years ago.

I am one of the activists from the UK who have been involved with monthly memorials for Sewol-ho from the very beginning, back in April 2014.  I have even given a speech or two in Korea touching on this tragedy, the activism and also Korean culture and film – not only my filmmaking and art projects, of which more than one uses Sewol as a subject within it, but also Korean cinema on the whole.

You only have to notice some of the imagery in this trailer of mine, for my 30-minute drama, “REPARATION” to see this connection…

 

Therefore, I was met with mixed emotions when I read the following news:

South Korea’s “Jeonju International Film Festival” (JIFF / May 2024) – The line-up will include a few Sewol ferry disaster screenings…

Yes… South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival (May 1-10) has revealed the full programme for its 25thedition, which will include a series of screenings to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster.

The festival will comprise 232 films from 43 countries, opening with Sho Miyake’s romantic drama All The Long Nights and closing with Kazik Radwanski’s Canadian drama Matt And Mara. Both screened at the Berlinale in February.

Among the line-up are six films to commemorate the sinking of the Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014, in which more than 300 people died, most of them high school students on a field trip. The titles are led by the world premiere of Shin Kyoung-soo’s When We Bloom Again, a drama that centres on a father who lost his daughter to the disaster. The remainder of the special section are made up of documentaries, including world premieres of 10 Years After The Sinking, Zero-Sum by director Yoon Sol-ji and Still Waiting At Paengmok by Jang Ju-eun.

“Ten years have passed since the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry, but the scars in the hearts of the victims’ family members – and the South Korean public in general – have yet to heal,” said JIFF programmer Moon Seok. “These are films that grimly show the unjust fate of the victims, the tears of the family members they left behind, and a society without systems in place or people assuming responsibility.”

Unveiling its selection of 10 international competition titles, the festival said it had received 747 films from 81 countries – a record number of submissions, up nearly 24% on last year’s 604 films.

The section, open to director’s first or second films, is dominated by debut features. They include documentaries After the Snowmelt by Lo Yi-Shan, about a hiker who died while trekking in Nepal, and KIX from directors Balint Revesz and David Mikulan, which follows a young boy from an impoverished background in Hungary who causes a man’s death.

Fresh from winning the GWFF best first feature award at the Berlinale is Cu Li Never Cries by Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Ngọc Lân alongside Laura Ferrés’ Spanish drama The Permanent Picture, which premiered at Locarno and won best film at Valladolid International Film Week in October.

Two films from Ukrainian directors include Oxygen Station, the second film from Ivan Tymchenko after 2019’s Beshoot, about a group of Tatars from the Crimea who were oppressed and made political prisoners, meaning they were unable to return to their homeland under Soviet rule in 1980. La Palisiada marks the directorial debut feature of Philip Sotnychenko and follows a detective and forensic psychiatrist as they investigate a murder case that happened five months before the death penalty was abolished in Ukraine in 1996.

The competition is rounded out by Junkyard Dog from French actor and director Jean-Baptiste Durand; The Major Tones by Argentina’s Ingrid Pokropek; Practicefrom Norwegian director Laurens Pérol; and My Endless Numbered Days by Singapore’s Shaun Neo.

All are Asian premieres with the exception of My Endless Numbered Days, which will receive its international premiere in Jeonju.

After collaborating with Disney last year on an event themed around Star Wars, this year’s festival will include a pop-up zone themed around Pixar, including a special screening of around 30 minutes of footage from upcoming feature Inside Out 2.

Like last year, the festival will take place during an ongoing construction project to create space dedicated to the film festival so will take place at venues throughout the city. The opening event will again be held at the Sori Arts Center of Jeollabuk-do while the closing ceremony will take place at the Jeonbuk National University Cultural Centre.

Organisers also addressed ongoing challenges for film festivals in Korea. “Since late last year, a series of media reports have focused on the government’s cutting down on the film festival budget,” it said in a statement. “We are no exception, although a significant increase in sponsorship, ticket, and merch sales helped us to gain financial independence to a certain extent.”

JIFF added that it did “consider downsizing the festival” but has maintained the size of the event due to support from Jeonju’s city government-backed tourism promotion programmes.

One of my video art projects, relating to SEWOL:

Here are just a few of the films showing this year:

JIFF 2024: International Competition

After the Snowmelt (Tai-Japan)
Dir. Lo Yi-Shan

Cu Li Never Cries (Viet-Sing-Fr-Phil-Nor)
Dir. Pham Ngọc Lân

Junkyard Dog (Fr)
Dir. Jean-Baptiste Durand

KIX (Hung-Fr-Cro)
Dirs. Balint Revesz, David Mikulan

La Palisiada (Ukr)
Dir. Philip Sotnychenko

My Endless Numbered Days (Japan-Sing)
Dir. Shaun Neo

Oxygen Station (Ukr-Czech-Slov-Swe)
Dir. Ivan Tymchenko

Practice (Nor-Ger)
Dir. Laurens PĂŠrol

The Major Tones (Arg-Sp)
Dir. Ingrid Pokropek

The Permanent Picture (Sp-Fr)
Dir. Laura FerrĂŠs

Source:   https://www.screendaily.com/news/koreas-jeonju-film-festival-2024-lineup-includes-sewol-ferry-disaster-screenings/5192158.article

You can also find details of the Opening Film, Closing Film, films in the Korean Competition & various other strands too via this link:

https://eng.jeonjufest.kr/db/section.asp

Whether for the Sewol ferry related films or the many others being screen over the 10 days of JIFF, I hope to see some of you, some of my friends and maybe some of the creatives there too!

Further LINKS:

https://eng.jeonjufest.kr/?intro=hide

https://eng.jeonjufest.kr/db/section.asp

https://www.instagram.com/jeonju_iff/

 

Other Mini Mini Movie articles which touch on Jeonju or associated Korean film industry Interviews:

https://miniminimovie.com/?s=jeonju

https://miniminimovie.com/tag/jeonju/

https://miniminimovie.com/category/random/interviews-more/

 

FILMIC Footnote:

Being advised that director Kim Sol has a film at JIFF 2024, called “Autumn Note” made be extra-happy as she’s a brilliant filmmaker and someone I’ve met before, in London.  In fact, here’s a little article relating to that meeting and indeed a review of her “Scattered Night” film:

“Scattered NIGHT” (“흩어진 ë°¤”) – FILM REVIEW: ‘Closing NIGHT’ of #LKFF2019