Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Governor of Gyeonggi Province
Lee Jae-myung
Nice to meet you, all you film lovers. I am Lee Jae-myung, the Governor of Gyeonggi Province. I extend my gratitude to the Festival Director Jung Sangjin and all the festival officials that worked hard to make this film festival happen. As the Chairperson of Organizing Committee of DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, I want to especially thank the volunteers for volunteering with us for the love of film festival in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
The photo selected for the poster is called “Dragon Teeth.” It is from the photo book DMZ: Demilitarized Zone of Korea by Park Jongwoo, a major documentary photographer that has been recording various sceneries deviated from the separation of the Korean Peninsula. The black lines extending over the calm waters create a peaceful atmosphere, yet its installed structure is “dragon teeth”, a hurdle that was installed in the coastline of Yeonpeong Island to deter the invasion of North Koreans. This solemn beauty seems to reflect the reality of the separated peninsula.
In this 70th anniversary of the Korean War, different traces of the war in the peninsula make us think about the meaning of peace again. For a brief moment, we had a sense of peace after a long time of endurance. But due to the recent deterioration in inter-Korean relations, DMZ still remains as a symbol of division. However, it is also our responsibility to make DMZ, which stands at the crossroads of peace and conflict, a symbol of peace, coexistence and hope.
I believe that DMZ International Documentary Film Festival that has been conveying the message of peace, life, and communication to the world for the past 11 years is indeed a driving force to continue on this journey towards peace. Documentary films that document various aspects-from war and revolution to religion and environment-have the power to face reality and realize the truth.
I heard we received 922 films from 96 countries this year. As we miss our past simple yet peaceful daily life, I am sure that diverse documentary films that capture our lives with a clear gaze will remind us of the preciousness of our daily lives with real emotions.
I am particularly worried that the independent and artistic film industry will contract in these times when both domestic and international film industry is stagnating due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. Gyeonggi Province will continue to pay close attention and support as much as possible for the development of diverse films, including documentary films. At the same time, we will do our best to ensure the autonomy and accountability of the film festival.
Thanks to the interest and support of the filmmakers and audience, DMZ International Documentary Film Festival has been grounded as one of the major Asian documentary film festivals, surpassing the limitations of subject matters and genre. Along with 13.7M citizens of Gyeonggi, I will be rooting for DMZ International Documentary Film Festival to be even more loved and for it grow to be a global documentary film festival.
Thank you.
The photo selected for the poster is called “Dragon Teeth.” It is from the photo book DMZ: Demilitarized Zone of Korea by Park Jongwoo, a major documentary photographer that has been recording various sceneries deviated from the separation of the Korean Peninsula. The black lines extending over the calm waters create a peaceful atmosphere, yet its installed structure is “dragon teeth”, a hurdle that was installed in the coastline of Yeonpeong Island to deter the invasion of North Koreans. This solemn beauty seems to reflect the reality of the separated peninsula.
In this 70th anniversary of the Korean War, different traces of the war in the peninsula make us think about the meaning of peace again. For a brief moment, we had a sense of peace after a long time of endurance. But due to the recent deterioration in inter-Korean relations, DMZ still remains as a symbol of division. However, it is also our responsibility to make DMZ, which stands at the crossroads of peace and conflict, a symbol of peace, coexistence and hope.
I believe that DMZ International Documentary Film Festival that has been conveying the message of peace, life, and communication to the world for the past 11 years is indeed a driving force to continue on this journey towards peace. Documentary films that document various aspects-from war and revolution to religion and environment-have the power to face reality and realize the truth.
I heard we received 922 films from 96 countries this year. As we miss our past simple yet peaceful daily life, I am sure that diverse documentary films that capture our lives with a clear gaze will remind us of the preciousness of our daily lives with real emotions.
I am particularly worried that the independent and artistic film industry will contract in these times when both domestic and international film industry is stagnating due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. Gyeonggi Province will continue to pay close attention and support as much as possible for the development of diverse films, including documentary films. At the same time, we will do our best to ensure the autonomy and accountability of the film festival.
Thanks to the interest and support of the filmmakers and audience, DMZ International Documentary Film Festival has been grounded as one of the major Asian documentary film festivals, surpassing the limitations of subject matters and genre. Along with 13.7M citizens of Gyeonggi, I will be rooting for DMZ International Documentary Film Festival to be even more loved and for it grow to be a global documentary film festival.
Thank you.
Festival Director
JUNG Sangjin
I send my greetings to you, documentary filmmakers, film professionals, and documentary lovers.
In April this year, I assumed the important position of festival director of DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, and worked along with our staff to prepare for the 12th film festival. But as the advent of COVID-19 has drastically changed our society, the film festival established a step-by-step operation plan accordingly, yet its spread is still unpredictable.
More than the regular opening of the film festival, every guest and visitor’s health and safety were and are our ultimate priority.
Therefore, we had to make an inevitable decision to cancel all outdoor screenings and events, and to limit the number of theater audience.
Moreover, we’ve turned our forums and DMZ Industry events online. For the past 11 years, DMZ International Documentary Film Festival has not forgotten its social role and responsibility to revitalize the documentary industry by expanding its base and supporting its production, and has been striving to do so. Above all, due to the nature of the documentary genre, which is difficult to screen in domestic theaters, we thought that the role of the film festival was to provide opportunities to many documentary filmmakers who tried hard to screen in theaters before the film festival entry.
But this time, we’re sorry that we’ve unfortunately invited a limited number of directors, invited guests, and industry officials. To countermeasure the ongoing COVID-19 situation, this year’s DMZ International Documentary Film Festival has strengthen its overall contents and also prepared online content to meet the audience non-face-to-face-this also reflects the concerns about the future direction of the film festival in this COVID era.
We’ll expand the contact point with the audience by revitalizing the “Doc School”, a documentary training program for teenagers, and “Docu&joy, DMZ Online Cinema,” a program that screens documentaries online.
DMZ International Documentary Film Festival promises to make every effort to grow as a film festival that Gyeonggi residents can love and boast about.
In addition, I am confident that the achievements of “DMZ Industry”, a documentary support platform for documentary filmmakers, and the newly launched “Good Pitch” will serve as an opportunity for a pivotal change in promoting Korean documentaries to the world. We ask for your interest and encouragement. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the documentary filmmakers who did not spare any support and encouragement for the film festival to be held even in these difficult times, as well as Gyeonggi Province, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korean Film Council, Goyang City, and Paju City.
Thank you.