The Gwangju International Film Festival Returns in 2013
This year marks the 13th annual Gwangju International Film Festival (GIFF), with a rough total of 80 films due to screen. Residents from all over South Korea are invited to partake in this spectacular cultural awareness festivity.
Yeom Jeong-ho, the festival director, who has actively collaborated with other film festivals throughout the country for the past 13 years, states that “the overall mission for GIFF is to bring peace and awareness to South Koreans.”
The May 18th political events that occurred over 33 years ago paved the way for democracy and human rights awareness. Not only were families of the deceased affected by traumatic outcomes from hundreds of student protesters being harassed, threatened and killed by government officials, but also many Koreans were angered. Many can agree that the residents of Gwangju have, therefore, expressed themselves positively with art, creativity and cultural awareness.
One great example is the Gwangju Biennale, which was founded in September of 1995 in memory of those who were murdered during the 1980 Uprising. The main focus was, and still is, to bring about a global perspective on contemporary art. Yeom was keen to expose films from around the world to the audiences of the city and to actively bring in residents of Jeollanam-do. Yet, being Asia’s first Biennale, it was not successful. He knew that the Biennale alone would not provide sufficient exposure for international films. Thus, the GIFF was born.
Working together for the past three years, Pock Rey Cho, who resides in Seoul, and Yeom helped finalize the yearly cut for both shorts and feature films for the annual GIFF event. With a team of interns, volunteers and dedicated staff members, about 80-90 films are now chosen seasonally for the yearly event. Taking place in various theatres around town over a span of five days, foreigners and natives alike are welcome to sit down and let the reels turn.
Some of the most popular works among Korean audiences during the previous GIFF screenings has been the work of a Tunisian-French actor, film director and screenwriter Abdellatif Kechiche. He made a directorial debut with La Faute à Voltaire, also known as The Poetical Refugee, in which the plot revolves around a young man named Jallel, fleeing from political repression in Algeria to Morocco. Along with others facing the same situation, Jallel finds himself on the streets as an immigrant street peddler barely staying afloat in a universe of withdrawing economic prospects.
Moreover, Kechiche has been globally recognized for his work not just as a director, but also as an actor in his introduction to a vast majority of English-speaking audiences, starring as a taxi driver named Ashade in the 2005 thriller Sorry, Haters. This film was an official choice in the American Film Institute’s Festival. Just this past spring, he won the highest possible award, the Palme D’or, at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival for his latest film, Blue is the Warmest Colour.
Another talented film festival participant who excites Korean audiences year after year is the idiosyncratic, posh art/filmmaker Gim Gideok (Ki-Duk Kim). The 52-year-old South Korean native studied fine arts in Paris during the early 1990s and commenced his screenwriting efforts in South Korea upon his return.
He has won numerous awards internationally, including his latest in 2012 from the Venice Film Festival for his film titled Pieta. Not only did his work receive a Golden Lion award, but it was also the first Korean film in history to ever receive three honorable mentions from film festivals in Venice, Berlin and Cannes, all in the same year.
However, interestingly enough, his 2000 movie, The Isle, was delayed for release in the United Kingdom, due to animal cruelty depicted in a scene where a frog gets skinned alive and several fish are mutilated. Soon after, Kim gave a statement expressing his concerns towards the audience, explained that they cooked and ate all the fish used in the film and further stated that he had “done a lot of cruelty on animals in [his] films. And [he] will have a guilty conscience for the rest of [his] life.”
The Top Three Confirmed Film Titles for the 2013 GIFF:
1) I Know You Are There (Taiwan):
Synopsis: A film about Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants starting a new life in Indonesia in a town called “Aceh,” where most locals have intense memories from the tsunami that took place in 2004. The people in Aceh are banned from learning Chinese by their government and, thus, take means into their own hands by trying to learn the language through Buddhism doctrine. After losing family members from the tsunami, the locals wish to start a new life with religion and volunteering. This film will be premiering in the World Vision section at GIFF, which introduces new movies from new directors.
About the Director: Ho Chiao-Lin was born in Taiwan and studied film at the Beijing Academy of Film. She made her first movie shortly after earning her Masters at the Taiwan National University of Arts. She has previously participated in the 5th annual GIFF.
2) Almost Perfect (USA):
Synopsis: The plot depicts the life of a “go-to” family girl named Vanessa, who at age 34, still saves her mother, father, brother and others from their own troubles. Although she finally runs into an old friend who may just be the perfect man for her, the eye of the storm closes in on her when a chain of family events prevent Vanessa from pursuing her life goals and romantic dreams. The only one she needs to save at this point is herself!
About the Director: Bertha Bay-Sa Pan was born in New Jersey and raised in Taiwan. She received her BA from Boston University in Film and Art, and then earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in 1997. As well as winning the Directors Guild Award for Best Asian American Student Filmmaker with her graduate thesis film, Pan, she has also collaborated with music artists, including Slim Kid Tre of Pharcyde, among other popular children bands, by directing their music videos.
3) Journey to Portugal (Portugal)
Synopsis: The story is politically-themed, surrounding European procedures at an airport border control area. Maria is the only passenger on board an airplane who is detained for questioning, but the minor protocol situation turns into a nightmare when the Immigration Police realize that the man waiting for Maria is of Senegalese decent. And, to the police, anything is possible, from illegal immigration to human trafficking, which is what they believe about Maria’s situation.
About the Director: Sérgio Tréfaut is a Brazilian native born to a Portuguese father and a French mother. After studying for his Masters in Philosophy at Paris University, Sorbonne, Tréfaut began his journalism career in Lisbon shortly after. After completing work as an assistant director, he became a producer and documentary director. His work has been presented in over 30 countries. For many years, Tréfaut has directed the Doclisboa International Film Festival and was the president of Apordoc (Portuguese Documentary Association).
Yeom further stated that, “Movies can expose people easily, cheaply to other means of lifestyle and journeys. Art as a film can create and boost a film industry here [in South Korea] and can really give Gwangju a chance to represent itself even more all around the world.”
The opening ceremony is on August 29th at Gwangju City Hall, and the festival will continue until September 2nd. For more information on the schedule of events and volunteering opportunities, please check-out: www.giff.org