Daegu Short Film Festival Opens on the 19th Despite 'COVID-19' Concerns

Record High Submission of 905 Domestic Competitors and More
Exclusive Theaters and Bukseong-ro Area for 11 Days Until the 29th

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongwook Park] The 21st Daegu Short Film Festival will be held from the 19th to the 29th for 11 days under the slogan "Summer Night, The World Reunited" at the Oo Theater, Daegu's independent film theater, and Bukseong-ro.

Hosted by the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Independent Film Association (co-representatives Kim Hongwan and Choi Changhwan) and sponsored by Daegu City, the Daegu Short Film Festival has expanded its scope this year to include invited films and the Daegu New Works section in addition to the domestic competition and Apple Cinema.

Daegu City explained that despite the difficulties caused by COVID-19, they have established thorough quarantine measures such as spaced seating and venue disinfection to welcome citizens, aiming to discover and nurture talented film directors who will follow in the footsteps of director Bong Joon-ho, a pride of Daegu.

However, this year, due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), planned side events have been minimized. The opening ceremony will be replaced by posting the opening video on the Daegu Short Film Festival Naver TV channel and screening the opening film offline, and the closing ceremony including the awards ceremony will be conducted in a hybrid format of online and offline. Tickets for the festival can only be reserved online through "Indie & Art" as a measure for spaced seating.

This year, a record total of 930 works were submitted, including 905 domestic competition entries (718 narrative films, 124 animations, 31 documentaries, 32 mixed genres) and 25 Apple Cinema films (20 narrative, 3 documentaries, 2 mixed genres). A total of 45 short films, including 25 domestic competition films (21 narrative, 3 animation, 1 documentary) and 9 Apple Cinema films (7 narrative, 2 documentaries) that passed the preliminary round, will be screened at the Oo Theater.

The festival's judging will be conducted by the invited directors in the competition section themselves. The awards include one grand prize and one excellence award in the domestic competition section, one grand prize and one excellence award in the Apple Cinema section, one audience award voted directly by viewers, and two Apple Cinema Best Pitching short film production support awards (grand prize and excellence award) judged by local film experts.

In addition to films, side events have been prepared to provide opportunities for collaboration between film and other art fields, allowing arts to develop together. First, through the "Deep & Poster" event, 34 local design artists created 34 movie posters, each inspired by one competition film, which will be exhibited at the Oo Theater and Bukseong-ro's "Dialogue Space" until September 19.

Park Heejun, Director of Daegu City's Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, said, "We hope that citizens who have endured difficult times due to COVID-19 will find comfort and healing through Daegu's representative film festival, the Daegu Short Film Festival," and added, "We will spare no support so that the Daegu Short Film Festival can further develop and become a representative short film festival of Korea."

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