Jeonju International Film Festival


Launched in 2000, Jeonju International Film Festival is one of the Asian film festivals.
In the first edition of JIFF, debut films of Darren Aronofsky were introduced to South Korea. For the first time in Asia, Jiff highlighted early works of Béla Tarr as well. The winners of Jeonju IFF's International Competition Section include Ying Liang, John Akomfrah and Miike Takashi.
Another point of Jeonju is that it produces movies as well. Directors that once invited to Jeonju IFF, were later invited again to Jeonju Digital Project which is a set of three digital shorts. JDP granted financial support to masters for their short films and world-premiered those pieces in Jeonju.
Celebrating its 15th edition, JDP has boosted scale up to Feature-length with GYÖRGY Pálfi, PARK Jung bum/SHIN Yeon-shick
One of the other characteristics of JIFF is its experimental section called Expanded Cinema Expanded Cinema is possibly the best experimental film section in Asia that world-premieres new projects of directors

History

1st Jeonju International Film Festival (2000)

From 2000 to 2013, JIFF's Jeonju Digital Project bestowed KW50m each year to three directors to fund their short films. In 2014, JDP increased its total budget to KW180m to produce three feature films. In 2015, JDP was renamed to Jeonju Cinema Project, and the budget was further increased to KW300m.

Jeonju Digital Project 2000

The Jeonju International Film Festival presents Short Digital Films by Three Filmmakers in conversation with each other about their various interpretations of the digital film medium.
The filmmakers were given three conditions: to make a film in digital format, no longer than 30 minutes, and using a limited production budget. The three films construct one feature-length film entitled N, representing Next Generation, New Technology and Networking which are the common themes. Projects like Short Digital Films by Three Filmmakers, which focus on film production, creativity, and interactive technology, reflect the spirit of JIFF as they explore the zeitgeist of contemporary film.
JIFF attempts to open up new aesthetics for digital films as well as their functional efficiency. AKOMFRAH of England, JIA Zhang Ke of China, and TSAI Ming Liang of Taiwan, who have experimented in the genre of digital films, will show their works, these will be added to the list of digital masterpieces.
Jeonju International Film Festival 2002 has selected 3 cineastes in Asia. The three men are: director MOON Seung-Wook from Korea, who gained international critical acclaim last year with his film, director WANG Xiao-shuai from China, whose film was shown in last year's festivals, and who has, through his many films, become the representative artist of the Chinese 6th generation filmmakers, and lastly, SUWA Nobuhiro from Japan, who has already achieved the status of maestro of the 21st century films in Japan.
Like previous years, JIFF presents ‘Digital Short Films by Three Filmmakers’, where three directors are invited to come together at Jeonju. This year's participants are young directors, AOYAMA Shinji, Bahman GHOBADI, PARK Ki-Yong. Japan's director AOYAMA Shinji has received worldwide acclaim by establishing his own cinematic traits beginning with his debut film. Iranian director Bahman GHOBADI has made his entrance into the arena of world directors with his film The Hours of the Drunken Horses . The Korean director, PARK Ki-yong, has opened new possibilities in digital films through Camel.
Instead of selecting directors from Korea, Japan, and China this year's “Digital Short Films by Three Filmmakers" section broadens its scope to other regions of Asia. The directors participating this year are as follows: Darezhan OMIRBAYEV, from Kazakhstan, who won the Un Certain Regard award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for his film Killer; Eric KHOO, from Singapore, who is starting to garner international attention after his film Be With Me was chosen as the opening film for Director's Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival; and Pen-ek RATANARUANG, from Thailand, whose film Invisible Waves starring Korean actress KANG Hye-jung and Japanese actor Tadanobu ASANO was selected for competition at the 2006 Berlin Festival. The interlude segments will connect the three stories together and is directed by Chegy, the director of Fade into You.
Previously focused on Asian directors, Jeonju Digital Project 2007 takes a look at Europe. The Portuguese filmmaker Pedro COSTA, the German filmmaker Harun FAROCKI, and the French filmmaker Eugène GREEN participated in this project.
The participated three directors this year are Idrissa OUEDRAOGO from Burkina Faso, built his fame on, the African rising star director, Mahamat Saleh-HAROUN from Chad whom was introduced at Jeonju International Film Festival with his noticeable film, after winning Grand Special Jury Prize at Venice International Film Festival 2006, and Nacer KHEMIR from Tunisia continuing to build his own unique artistic world of cohesive subject matters as in his film which won Special Jury Prize at Locarno International Film Festival.
This digital filmmaking project began with the start of JIFF in 2000 and now became a key project of JIFF; JIFF bestows 50 million KRW, for production of a digital film over 30 minutes to each director. In 2010, James BENNING, a master of US experimental/independent films, Canadian independent filmmaker Denis CÔTÉ, and Argentina's rising star Matías PIÑEIRO have participated in the project.
JIFF plans and releases Jeonju Digital Project every year to support creative artists who explore film aesthetics and its future. Since its inception, JIFF has given much thought to the possibility of digital films. Jeonju Digital Project has been screened in Venice, Toronto, Locarno, Torino, Vancouver, Vienna, Hong Kong, Argentina, etc. During the 2006 Locarno Film Festival, a special exhibition was held under the title of ―Digital Asia where all of the Jeonju Digital Project works were presented, and in 2007, one of the project's productions won the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival International Competition section. And by Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN, one of the Jeonju Digital Projects in 2008, also received Special Jury Award in Africa-Asia Short Film Competition at Dubai International Film Festival.