Director Ahn Jae-hoon’s "Munyeodo" Wins Jury Prize at Annecy International Animation Film Festival

Director Jeong Haeji's 'Sura' Wins Jury Award in Graduation Film Category

Director Ahn Jae-hoon (51), who has captured Korea's unique colors in animation, received an award at the Annecy International Animation Festival in France.

On the 21st (Korean time), the festival's executive committee selected Ahn's directed film Munyeodo as the winner of the Contrechamp Jury Prize in the feature competition category. The drama is based on the short story of the same name (1936) by Kim Dong-ri. It tells the story of a family falling into ruin due to the clash between traditional shamanistic beliefs and Christianity. The conflict and antagonism between the shaman Mohwa and her devout Christian son Uk symbolize not only religious tensions but also ideological conflicts prevalent in modern Korean history. Korean music and dance are added like a musical, providing a variety of visual attractions. The voices of Mohwa and Uk were performed by musical actors Sonya and Kim Da-hyun, respectively.

Director Ahn is a veteran filmmaker who has produced works such as Sorry, I Love You (2006), Dream of a Precious Day (2011), When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom (2012), Buckwheat Flowers, A Lucky Day, and Spring Spring (2014), and Shower (2017). He founded Studio Pencil Meditation in 1998 and has been consistently creating feature-length animations for 23 years. Most of his works point to Korea's past, present, and future. He focuses on stories born from our homeland and highlights Korean aesthetics. This is his second entry into the Annecy International Animation Festival. In 2011, Dream of a Precious Day was screened in the feature competition category. Ahn is the only Korean director to have been invited twice to the festival's competition section.

Held annually in June in Annecy, France, the Annecy International Animation Festival is considered one of the world's four major animation festivals alongside the Hiroshima International Animation Festival in Japan, the Ottawa International Animation Festival in Canada, and the Zagreb International Animation Festival in Croatia. It boasts a history and prestige that attract 200,000 visitors each year. Domestically, it became widely known when director Sung Baek-yeop's Oseam won the grand prize in 2004.

Meanwhile, director Jung Hae-ji (25) from Korea National University of Arts received the Jury Prize in the graduation film category for Sura on the same day. The film was praised for effectively conveying the process of teenage pregnancy and abortion. Director Jung had already been recognized early on for her talent, winning the Grand Prize in the Japanese Military Comfort Women Content Contest and the Best Character Design Award at the Shin Young Culture Challenge in 2017 with her work Tears.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.