Following a pair of pandemic editions that saw it field a smaller than usual lineup, the JEONJU International Film Festival (JIFF) is set to return with a full program and physical event this year for its upcoming 23rd edition, scheduled to take place from April 28 to May 7. 

JIFF was the first major film event affected in Korea at the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. For its first pandemic era edition, the festival was forced to limit screenings and guests to jury members and local filmmakers, with most invited films outside of the Korean competition not screening physically. Last year, the festival proceeded with a hybrid offline and online event, in strict accordance with social distancing guidelines, which welcomed 186 films, spread across 356 physical screenings.

This year, thanks to Korea’s high vaccination adoption rate, the festival is moving forward with a full program, which is expected to present around 230 films in its 18 sections through 500 in-theater screenings.

Compared to the previous pandemic edition, JIFF is planning to invite a limited number of international guests and journalists this year with the possibility of quarantine exemptions being granted.

Though the full program won’t be announced for a few months, the festival revealed that they are planning to stage a retrospective of the works of the highly regarded production company Taeheung Pictures, the CEO of which, Lee Taewon, passed away last October. Eight titles will be screened, among them Lee Dooyong’s The Eldest Son (1985), Bae Changho’s Our Joyful Young Days (1987), Lee Myungse’s Gagman (1989), Jang Sunwoo’s The Road to the Racetrack (1991) and Im Kwontaek’s Chihwaseon (2002).

Other titles expected to screen this year include two JEONJU Cinema Projects - titles funded and produced by the festival: Dane Komljen’s Afterwater and Eric Baudelaire’s A Flower In The Mouth, both of which will screen in the Forum section of the Berlin International Film Festival in February.

JEONJU also revealed that their international competition section had received 491 submissions from 75 countries, an increase of over 20% compared to the previous year.