9th JIMFF slated in Jecheon on Aug. 14-19 for one week

The film festival, featuring movies in which the music plays a crucial role in the narrative structure, has emerged as a great festival to spend vacations--watching movies, tuning into live concerts and enjoying bungee jumping all in one place. JIMFF is the largest music-themed film festival in Asia and it is gaining growing popularity among both filmgoers and music lovers alike.
This year JIMFF will present a series of programs that combine film and music including: a section specifically for music, a program which introduces the various currents of contemporary music & cinema, a number of live musical performances staged outdoors on the shores of Cheongpung Lake before its closing on Aug. 19.

All in all, 95 films from 34 countries will be shown during the fest. Five films will be premiered in JIMFF for the first time.

On July 16, organizers of the annual festival held a press conference at the Shinsegae Department Store in downtown Seoul. The press meeting served as an occasion offering glimpses of the fest to be enjoyed by everyone of all generations.
On hand at the press conference included Choi Myung-hyun, chairman of the Organizing Committee and Huh Jin-ho, chairman of the Executive Committee. Chairman Choi said that all JIMFF staff members are now doing their best to give all the participants joy and happiness through the fest. Chairman Huh said that “we tried hard to highlight the advantages of existing film fests instead of pursuing radical change. We will show films with more diverse musical themes this year to the audience,” he added. During the press meeting, images of music-themed films including “Trailer” directed by Korean Lee Woo-young will be screened. Director Lee explained about the motive of direction.

The opening film of the 9th JIMFF is Pop Redemtion, the feature debut of Martin Le Gall. It is an exciting film that delicately crosses between metal and pop, comedy and tragedy, and also past and present to show the passion of the protagonists into music. In this road movie about the journey to “Hellfest”, a heavy metal festival held in Nantes, France, the director presents his excellent knowledge about music by pasquinading the prejudice about black metal, known as “satanic music” to the public and inserting homage to The Beatles here and there.

In the “Cinema Concert” section, two silent films will be featured. Since 2006, Cinema Concert has been the most important program of Jecheon International Music & Film Festival. In this section, the screenings are accompanied by live music in sync with the images of the silent film era. This year, “Safety Last!” and “The Kid Brother,” two films of Harold Lloyd, one of the most popular and influential film comedians of the silent film era, together with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, “will be screened along with live performances by Philip Carli, an American film accompanist.

In the Special Perspective for Peter Chan, three films including ”He’s a Woman, She’s a Man’ and “Almost a Love Story” will be screened along with three Korean hit films in which music director Lee Dong-joon participated in music production.

One Summer Night is JIMFF’s main program which allows you to enjoy films and music together and guides you through a 4-day journey of sentiments. “BOOGIE Night,” which will raise the heat of a midsummer night with hip-hop, “It’s NEW Night,” which will captivate the audience with crooning ballads, “MIX Night,” composed of dreamlike melodies of rock, jazz, and acoustic rhythm, and “VIVA Night,” a night for the young, where lyrics that talk of everyday life and humor coexist, are the four concepts for passionate performances. A total of 40 artist teams will be featured in One Summer Night. Included are Bobby Kim & Buga Kingz, Primary & Zion T. and Huckleberry P. Bobby Kim, known for his unusual tone as a vocalist, Gan-D, and Juvie Train make up the group Buga Kingz, who will provide a special experience with voices and melodies that reach the deepest corners of your heart.

In the “Street Artist Festival,” five teams of “street artists” will perform. The Joong-Ang Market Project is a program that aims to bring some life to the local traditional market and convert it into a cultural space by filling the space that merchants have left behind with the Jecheon International Music & Film Festival. The goal is to bring together the JIMFF, the merchants of Joong-Ang Market, and the audience of the festival through various exhibits and programs for trying things under the concept of “going together under the moonlight.” In addition, the 9th JIMFF will feature the “music talk” and “JIMFFeteria.”

Korean actress Nam Bo-ra and Im Seul-ong, a member of the popular rock band 2AM, were appointed JIMFF goodwill ambassadors. Nam appeared in various films, including 'Sunny, Moon Embracing the Sun?and ?on't Cry, Mommy.' k