Jeonju Film Festival, 'Pseudo Family' Films Embracing LGBTQ+ and Women's Solidarity Gain Strength

Announcement of 10 Selected Films for Korean Competition

Still photo from the movie 'Sumbisori'. Provided by Jeonju International Film Festival.

The Jeonju International Film Festival has announced the 10 selected films for the Korean Competition.

According to the 26th Jeonju International Film Festival on the 20th, 165 films were submitted to the Korean Competition, which was held over three months from November last year to January this year. Among them, 10 films were selected, including 9 feature films and 1 documentary.

The Korean Competition section introduces first or second feature-length directorial works regardless of genre. Past winners of the Korean Competition Grand Prize, such as "Kim Min-young of the Report Card" from the 22nd edition, "Jeong Soon" from the 23rd, and "Time to Rise" from the 25th, have been invited to international film festivals, making this section a gateway for emerging directors.

Programmers Moon Seok, Moon Seong-gyeong, and Jeon Jin-su participated in the judging. The judges stated, “Not only did the number of submissions increase, but the overall quality of the films improved, making it difficult to select just 10 films.”

This year’s keywords were identified as 'sexual minorities' (LGBTQ) and 'quasi-families implying female solidarity dramas.' The judges said, “LGBTQ-related films showed strong presence in the Korean Short Competition,” adding, “Whether this reflects the intimate changes in Korean society naturally mirrored in films, the hopes of filmmakers, or the directors’ intentions anticipating the festival’s preference for LGBTQ themes remains to be seen.”

Still photo from the movie 'Winter's Light'. Provided by Jeonju International Film Festival.

The 10 selected films include "3670" (director Park Jun-ho), which deals with the alienation and love felt by a gay North Korean defector youth caught between the North Korean defector community and the gay community; "Life Saver" (director Bang Mi-ri), depicting a journey to recover a rental deposit after being scammed by a middle-aged woman named Eun-sook, who claims to have saved the protagonist’s life in childhood; "Sumbisori" (director Lee Eun-jung), about three generations of women in a family who unite and sustain their lives; and "97 Hyeja, Drift" (director Jung Ki-hyuk), a road movie about a funeral worker from Busan working at an insurance call center in Seoul.

The recurring theme of quasi-families, a staple of the festival, has this year merged with female solidarity dramas. The judges analyzed, “Since the Me Too movement, female-centered films have developed and been showcased at various film festivals including Jeonju and in mainstream cinema.”

The only documentary selected for the Korean Competition is "Colorless and Odorless" (director Lee Eun-hee), which focuses on workers in semiconductor and display factories.

The judges expressed, “With the stagnation of the mainstream film industry negatively impacting the independent film sector, and with government funding cuts causing financial difficulties for many film festivals, we feel a sense of responsibility,” adding, “We hope that Korean cinema will ignite a spark starting from the Jeonju International Film Festival.”

The 26th Jeonju International Film Festival will be held from April 30 to May 9 across Jeonju city.

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