Featuring top performers Ms. Bang Minah, Shon Suhyun

By Feature Editor Kim Hyung-dae
The 18th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival has announced its official selection for the Official Competition.
The Korean section showcases the new vision of Korean music filmmakers. The Korean competition jury consists of actress Moon Geun-young, Director James Junwon Bang and Producer Shim Bo-kyoung. 
One feature film will be chosen as the best picture during the festival and will receive a cash prize of KRW15 million, and a short film will receive a cash prize of KRW 5 million for the best picture award.

Typical pictures from films featured
Typical pictures from films featured

This year's Official Competition: Korea invites 4 feature films and 13 short films. The selected feature films are Diva Janus, a documentary depicting the life of the late Park Seong-yeon, Korea's first female jazz musician; How Have You Been, a love story that follows Yeongyung, a 33-year-old musician who decides to give up music after repeatedly failing auditions; Lady Shaman, a feature film that captures the relationship between Sun-ho, a shamanism researcher, and Hae-ri, a shaman, while providing an in-depth portrayal of traditional shamanism. In a documentary film, Withstanding and Existing, seven musicians, including Choi Gonne, Kim Ildu, Kim Sawol, Kwak Pureunhaneul, and Bulnabang Star Sausage Club, gather at the Gwangju Theater to talk and sing together.

The Official Competition: Korean section offers a wide range of genres with ten fiction films, four documentaries, two experimental films, and one animated film. The selected short films stand out for their artistic direction and experimental form, going beyond the conventions of the genre. The black-and-white animated film Busking beautifully captures the heartbreak and melancholy of a young musician Jungwon; the narrative film CANNA! follows the story of Canna, who is preparing for her debut as a drag queen; the experimental film FREESPIRIT shows the journey of the members of the band Cadejo, who have become floating spirits; the narrative film Hurricane Casper follows the story of a rock band of the same name who performs from stage to stage; the narrative film Lumière follows the visually impaired heroine Gayeong, who visits the theater where her father used to work as a projectionist; the experimental film Pyrrha portrays two women dancing with an object between them.

Furthermore, this year's Official Competition: Korean presents the ability of young filmmakers to illuminate the dead ground of our society, including family discord, alienation, discrimination, and social violence. 
The section will feature the following films as world premieres: 
Remember Our Sister, a narrative film about Yeon-hong who lives in a military camp town and thinks that her town where she can enjoy colorful food and dancing is a perfect place.
Riverside Player, a documentary film portraying the lives of old musicians playing in a shady corner on the bank of a stream under a bridge.
The Second Language, a narrative film showing the love-hate relationship between two high school girls in a Korean traditional music club.
Sound of Summer Gone, a narrative film about Dongyun, a lead soloist in a school choir, who faces the crisis of an early voice break and the divorce of his parents.
That Girl and I, a narrative film about Haeon writing songs for her band, captivates with the idea of combining plagiarism with the familiar theme of the poetic grandmother.
When was your best day ever? This is a narrative film in which a Korean woman who wants to become a musician is confronted with the most important memories of her life while meeting and talking to a French man.
Wonderful Tonight, a documentary that follows the Karen people who have set up a refugee camp near the Myanmar border after an attack by the Myanmar military.
The 18th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, where audiences can bask in music and film, will be held for six days from August 11 to August 16 in the Jecheon City Area. 
This year, JIMFF invites its audience to share the joy of the festival by strengthening its identity with the representative music program One Summer Night and newly presented programs such as Films in Live and the Special Concert by Justin Hurwitz.


 

 

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