Announcing 27th JEONJU International Film Festival’s Official Award Winners

International Competition

Grand Prize

The Night Is Fading Away (Ezequiel SALINAS, Ramiro SONZINI)

Best Film Prize (Sponsored by NH Nonghyup)

Chronovisor (Jack AUEN, Kevin WALKER)

Special Jury Prize

The Visitor (Vytautas KATKUS)

Special Mention

Michiyuki - Voices of Time (NAKAO Hiromichi)

Korean Competition

Grand Prize (Sponsored by FUJIFILM KOREA)

The Summer That Slipped Away (LEE Seonyeon)

Special Jury Prize (Sponsored by MALGNSOFT)

Karma (KIM Myunwoo)

NONGSHIM SHIN RAMYUN Award

Water Deer (YU Soyoung)

Best Actor Prize

KI Jinwoo (INSOMNIA, as Do-Yul), YEO Daehyun (Living Through the Same Season, as Se-Hun)

CGV Award

Living Through the Same Season (GOH Seng-hyeon)

Korean Competition for Shorts

Grand Prize (Sponsored by FUJIFILM KOREA)

Touch, took (TAE Jiwon)

Best Director Prize (Sponsored by Kyobo Life Insurance)

Memil (KIM Jungmin)

Special Jury Prize (Sponsored by Presbyterian Medical Center)

Sales log (KANG Mina)

Aero K Award

Post poo drop (KANG Seungho)

Whale Hunting (RYU Dohyeon)

Special Award

FUJIFILM KOREA Award

Dark Beginnings (MUN Jeonghyun)

Documentary Award (Sponsored by Jin Motors)

Karma (KIM Myunwoo)

NETPAC Award

Numb (UCHIYAMA Takuya)

Cineteca Nacional México Award

Halo (ROH Youngwan)

J Vision Award (Sponsored by Gang Dong O Cake Co., Ltd.)

The Yearbook: Waiting for the Teacher (KIM Jongkwan)

The 27th JEONJU IFF: Jury Statement

The jury statements for the 27th JEONJU International Film Festival are as follows.

■ International Competition

• Overall Jury Comment

The slogan of JEONJU International Film Festival is "Beyond the Frames." To cut out a frame in cinema means not only to think about what is inside the frame, but also about what lies "outside" of it. These films showed us the need to think at the same time about what was filmed and what was not, what is visible and what is invisible.

• Grand Prize: The Night Is Fading Away (Ezequiel SALINAS, Ramiro SONZINI)

A humanist call to arms that, with exquisite cinematography, shows that cinema of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth.

• Best Film Prize (Sponsored by NH Nonghyup): Chronovisor (Jack AUEN, Kevin WALKER)

In tracing the boundary between the real and the fake, the film moves through text, sound waves, and images, ultimately arriving at film itself—posing a compelling question, both alternative and classical, about the very material of cinema.

• Special Jury Prize: The Visitor (Vytautas KATKUS)

With its inventive, unconventional camera angles, the film constructs its narrative and conveys its themes in a manner that is both natural and layered.

• Special Mention: Michiyuki - Voices of Time (NAKAO Hiromichi)

Sometimes a movie reminds us that roosters, rats, owls and rabbits give us the hour. Sun also, but sometimes it’s cloudy. This movie allows us to measure the times we go through with elegance.

■ Korean Competition

• Overall Jury Comment

The films in this year’s Korean Competition have opened windows onto a multitude of worlds, but above all they have brought us face to face with the reality we live in, and have questioned the role cinema must play within it

• Grand Prize (Sponsored by FUJIFILM KOREA): The Summer That Slipped Away (LEE Seonyeon)

A film that moved us deeply because, like its characters, it embarks on a journey adrift into the unknown, only to reveal that, in times of hardship, we must remain united. The film highlights the remarkable talent of its director, LEE Seonyeon, and its lead actress, LEE Jooyoung. For these reasons, we have decided to award the Grand Prize of the Korean Competition to The Summer That Slipped Away.

• Special Jury Prize (Sponsored by MALGNSOFT): Karma (KIM Myunwoo)

The film makes thoughtful choices in shaping how to render a narrative—from the father's debt to the family’s life as a whole—and in determining the son's place as both subject and narrator within it. Its unfolding is handled with care, ultimately reaching a depth and breadth of empathy that resonates deeply.

• NONGSHIM SHIN RAMYUN Award: (YU Soyoung)

Water Deer offers a sincere and vibrant portrait of a charismatic working woman, capturing both the strength and tenderness of a mother under immense economic pressure. Deeply empowering, it honors the resilience of women everywhere, celebrating those who continue to love, endure, and care with unwavering dignity and spirit.

• Best Actor Prize:

KI Jinwoo for INSOMNIA, as Do-yul

When an actor's innate qualities closely align with the character, and that alignment is captured on screen without artifice.

YEO Daehyun for Living Through the Same Season, as Se-hun

For his effortlessly charming, boy-next-door portrayal of a devoted lover, the actor delivers a performance of striking naturalness and emotional ease. Spanning youth to maturity, he brings subtle contrast and depth to the role. His understated, deeply believable presence leaves a lasting warmth, lingering long after the film ends.

• CGV Award: Living Through the Same Season (GOH Seng-hyeon)

From winter back to winter, following the journey of a man and a woman across the four seasons, the film transforms what might have remained a familiar story of a long-distance relationship into something uniquely its own through finely drawn psychological detail. Rather than relying on artificial conflict or exaggerated direction, it stands out for its simple approach, following realistic dialogue and emotional currents with clarity. The mise-en-scène, which captures the texture of each season, and the lingering resonance of the final scene—set against the bittersweet nature of the relationship—reveal the emerging director's distinct and assured sensibility.

■ Korean Competition for Shorts

• Overall Jury Comment

Over the past few days myself and my fellow jurors have watched thirty short films, from tales of grief to warnings about AI, from reckonings with the past to visions of the future. In the process we’ve been granted a snapshot of short filmmaking in Korea and the next generation of filmmakers ready to shape cinema in their image. I’m happy to say that the future is bright, the films we’ve watched have been inventive and unafraid to take risks, and we’re delighted to be able to award five such films.

• Grand Prize (Sponsored by FUJIFILM KOREA): Touch, took (TAE Jiwon)

When life keeps delaying, don't cry, watch this film. There's a strange coolness in hearing your own heart through someone else's voice. It feels dry, yet somehow it lands with a gentle, little thump. In a bleak world, we celebrate and support this film for the hope it brings.

• Best Director Prize (Sponsored by Kyobo Life Insurance): Memil (KIM Jungmin)

Expertly balancing tonal shifts and drawing excellent performances from his cast, Kim Jungmin’s Memil is a carefully crafted fairytale that drifts from moments of humourto horror at the turn of a glance or a well-timed cut. Precisely shot and moving with a fluidity that belies the complexity of its construction, it showcases a director that is both unafraid to be ambitious and also one who recognises the value of restraint.

• Special Jury Prize (Sponsored by Presbyterian Medical Center): Sales log (KANG Mina)

The director's chilling, offbeat sensibility to capturing the bittersweet moment when the hunger for results collides brutally with the last traces of human warmth is strikingly compelling.

• Aero K Award

Post poo drop (KANG Seungho)

After the death of his father, the protagonist confronts absence by moving against the steady flow of the world around him. He resists all things that flow along at a slight tilt, and those that operate at their own pace. Rather than dwelling solely on the theme of loss, Post poo drop approaches it in a manner similar to a personal ritual, yet resonates with all. It stood out as an experimental film, shining brightly across and between genres. Beyond its aesthetics, its sequence of images, or even its emotional register, the film reminds us of the essence of experimental cinema: the power of a personal story, the precision of its capture, and a solid core.

Whale Hunting (RYU Dohyeon)

In its blending of forms, both documentary and fiction, and its reflexive approach to cinema, Whale Hunting showcases a filmmaker who innately understands the inseparability of form and narrative. In director Ryu’s hands the films story, of the search for a missing director and a film that perhaps never was, becomes a remarkable examination of the very nature of creation.

Special Award

• FUJIFILM KOREA Award: Dark Beginnings (MUN Jeonghyun)

Among works that capture a range of contemporary phenomena and personal stories across diverse genres, Dark Beginnings stands out for the way it approaches the divisions within Korean society. The director's stance—listening to and recording each individual's story as it is, without taking sides—along with a commitment to the subject and a careful search for the most fitting form without losing direction, is notable. We extend our congratulations to director Mun Jeonghyun for offering meaningful questions that cut through contemporary Korean society, along with a mature and thoughtful perspective.

• Documentary Award (Sponsored by Jin Motors): Karma (KIM Myunwoo)

Though it takes the form of a family story, Karma is a vital work that uncovers ways of human resistance within capitalism. Through the ironic situation that one's own life becomes unlivable without helping others, it holds onto a hope of addressing systemic problems through acts of human care. Like all truthful cinema, it portrays the intimate circumstances of a single family with minimal resources, yet speaks to some of the most urgent issues facing humanity. (Sung Moon)

• NETPAC Award: Numb (UCHIYAMA Takuya)

Though diverse in region and form—from East and Southeast Asia to Indigenous Australian cinema—this year's NETPAC selection ultimately united around a common perspective. A lost mother tongue, a departed mother, a changing city, numbed senses, a wavering identity—within bodies, languages, and families no longer self-evident, the characters are forced to ask once more who they are. In honoring the spirit of NETPAC, the jury placed particular value on the freshest and most daring perspectives among emerging directors within this current.

• Cineteca Nacional México Award: Halo (ROH Youngwan)

Cineteca Nacional México brings this Distribution Prize with the conviction that films must travel and find the audiences they were made for. This year, the award goes to Halo by ROH Youngwan. In this film, we recognized the faces of millions of young Mexicans navigating the same margins, sustained only by the most fragile of hopes. Congratulations.

• J Vision Award (Sponsored by Gang Dong O Cake Co., Ltd.): The Yearbook: Waiting for the Teacher (KIM Jongkwan)

This year's J Vision Award is presented to Director Kim Jongkwan's The Yearbook: Waiting for the Teacher. Set against the harsh period of May 1980, the film brings about a reunion between teachers who stepped forward to prevent the sacrifice of their students and students who could not remain silent in the face of injustice. In doing so, it overcomes four decades of accumulated distrust and resentment, offering a deeply moving experience.