The 23rd JEONJU International Film Festival Presents Six Special Publications - Learn More About JEONJU IFF From Books!

· J Magazine, a magazine-featuring key content of JEONJU IFF

· Lee Chang-dong; Films That Never Stop Asking Questions, overviewing director Lee’s cinematic world

· Great Expectations: Taehung Pictures commemorating the contribution of Taehung Pictures and honoring the late Lee Tae-won

· Borderless Storyteller containing interviews with eight artists who are expanding the boundaries of moving images

The 23rd JEONJU International Film Festival (JEONJU IFF, Festival Director Lee Joondong) presents six publications (four Korean editions, two English editions) which are more than a recapitulation of this year’s festival. The special publications include J Magazine, the second edition since last year; Korean and English editions of Lee Chang-dong; Films That Never Stop Asking Questions and Great Expectations: Taehung Pictures 1984-2004, respectively, which are parts of the JEONJU IFF’s retrospective and special sections; and Borderless Storyteller - 8 Artists Extending Boundary of Moving Images, a linked project with the Expanded Plus section. The books will introduce new ways for the audience to remember and enjoy the JEONJU IFF’s selection.

■ J Magazine

J Magazine is a magazine-style guide featuring key content of the 23rd JEONJU IFF. It contains information on this year’s lineup, 217 films from 57 countries, including interviews with filmmakers, film reviews, and explanations about special sections. This year’s edition has interviews with various film professionals, such as the opening film, After Yang director Kogonada, the closing film, Full Time director Eric Gravel, Hommage director Shin Su-won, The layover actor Gang Gilu, and more. The magazine also includes reviews by well-known programmers and film critics so it may help the audiences who are considering what to watch. In addition, it provides useful regional information such as book stores, walking trails, cafes, and shops in Jeonju. J Magazine can be bought at local book stores and cafes in Jeonju during the festival schedule (April 28 to May 7, 2022).

■ Lee Chang-dong; Films That Never Stop Asking Questions

Lee Chang-dong; Films That Never Stop Asking Questions is an excellent introduction and guide to help cinephiles understand more deeply about director Lee Chang-dong’s cinematic world for 25 years. For this book, nine film critics from home and abroad wrote characteristic essays about director Lee and his work. It also contains a recent interview with director Lee. This book is published in relation to the 23rd festival’s special section, LEE Chang-dong: The Truth of the Invisible and is very valuable because it’s the first book in which director LEE participated among those devoted to his films. For his fans abroad, the English version has been released as well.

■ Great Expectations: Taehung Pictures 1984-2004

Great Expectations: Taehung Pictures 1984-2004 is a collaboration with the JEONJU IFF and Korean Film Archive (Director Kim Hong-joon) to commemorate the contribution of Taehung Pictures and honor the memory of late Lee Tae-won, the former representative of Taehung Production. With the English and Korean versions featuring vivid interviews, essays, visual materials with a full range of colors, and statistics, the book deals with the illustrious achievements of Taehung Pictures which led the renaissance of the Korean film industry from the 1980s to the early 2000s. From its foundation in 1984 to the present, Taehung Pictures has been a major film production whose history is enough to be regarded as that of Korean cinema. Therefore, its challenges and achievements are directly related to those of Korean cinema. Taehung Pictures produced Korean masterpieces, including Come, Come, Come Upward (1989), The General’s Son (1990), Sopyonje (1993), Chunhyang (2000), and Chihwaseon (2002) in its own way. It also collected brilliant accomplishments, attracting over a million moviegoers for the first time in Korea and winning the Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. JEONJU IFF plans to grant the Lifetime Achievement Award to the late Lee Tae-won at the Opening Ceremony on April 28.

■ Borderless Storyteller

In Borderless Storyteller, it features interviews with eight artists, who are expanding the boundaries of moving images. As a part of Expanded Plus, the most challenging and experimental section of the festival, the book is designed to give a deeper understanding of their art worlds. Breaking the mold of introducing only film directors’ works so far, the readers can learn about cinema’s place and the artistic spirit of the times in context with the era of media convergence. Like the subtitle of this book, eight innovative artists, including Mackerel Salfranski, Keem Youngle, Gina Kim, Kim Heecheon, Moojin Brothers, Song Joo-won, Oh Jaehyeong, and Hwang Soo-hyun, have expanded the realm of moving images without fear of new media based on VR, painting, dance, literature, and music. All of their works show new ways of storytelling and contain cinematic values at the same time. Artists show their unique perspectives after the persistent thoughts on their fields in the book.

The 23rd JEONJU IFF’s publications are currently on sale in online bookstores nationwide, as well as on the JEONJU IFF’s online merchandise shop (https://smartstore.naver.com/jeonjuiffgoods).

Meanwhile, the 23rd JEONJU IFF is held from April 28 (Thu) to May 7 (Sat), 2022, in and around Jeonju Film Street as well as via ONFIFN, an online screening platform dedicated to domestic film festivals.

● Special Publications

1) J Magazine (English)

JEONJU International Film Festival | 76 pages | KRW 4,000

2) Lee Chang-dong; Films That Never Stop Asking Questions (English)

JEONJU International Film Festival | 272 pages | KRW 16,000

3) Lee Chang-dong; Films That Never Stop Asking Questions (Korean)

JEONJU International Film Festival | 272 pages | KRW 16,000

4) Great Expectations: Taehung Pictures 1984-2004 (English)

JEONJU International Film Festival·Korean Film Archive | 368 pages | KRW 24,000

5) Great Expectations: Taehung Pictures 1984-2004 (Korean)

JEONJU International Film Festival·Korean Film Archive | 368 pages | KRW 24,000

6) Borderless Storyteller (English)

JEONJU International Film Festival | 271 pages | KRW 15,000