Competition
International Feature Competition
― Grand Jury Prize:
Television Event
― Jury Prize:
The Hill of Secrets
The International Feature Competition at the 4th PyeongChang International Peace Film Festival invited eight carefully selected films dealing with the theme of peace. Our world seen in these films is one still filled with an intolerable amount of absurdity. Yet, approaching that reality with their own unique perspective and style, the films managed to show us cinematic possibilities, proving the undeniable power of movies that prompts some serious soul-searching among us.
As we evaluated the films, we put the most emphasis on how they fit in with the identity of the PIPFF, what kind of perspective they demonstrated towards the unreasonable world, and their artistic merits. All decisions were made unanimously.
The Jury Prize goes to Lee Ji-eun’s The Hill of Secrets. It tells the story of Myung-eun, a young girl about to see her made-up world collapse – a world she has built up by lying about her “embarrassing” family. It is an extraordinary coming-of-age drama that profoundly explores the meaning of family through the eyes of a child. In her remarkable feature debut, Lee succeeds in creating a multi-layered narrative around a nuanced child protagonist – the breed rarely found in Korean films – with the help of stellar acting by talented child actors, on top of her own skillful directing.
The jury chose to award the Grand Jury Prize to Television Event by Jeff Daniels, a documentary film providing a look at the behind-the-scenes of The Day After (1983), a controversial film produced by ABC network that vividly demonstrated the horror of nuclear warfare. An adept documentarist, Daniels cleverly uses his composition techniques and an archive of footage to revive on screen the making and airing process of the film and the heated debate over nuclear proliferation that ensued. Despite being made some four decades ago, the “Event” still rings alarm to those of us living today amid the ever-present threat of nuclear war, especially on the divided Korean Peninsula. The film also reminded us of the PIPFF’s origin, which was the PyeongChang Inter-Korea Peace Film Festival launched four years ago.
At the end of the long pandemic tunnel, we are now going through a transformative phase in which we encounter and experience movies in new ways than before. Over the challenging years, the PIPFF has never stopped its efforts to make a space for sharing and spreading the message of peace through films, and for that we are very grateful. Our heartfelt support goes to the team, as we look forward to meeting with even more filmmakers and audiences from home and abroad next year.
Jury: Davide OBERTO, CHO Sung-hyung, JO Ji-hoon
Korean Short Competition
― Grand Jury Prize:
CITI-100
― Jury Prize:
Nobody’s Land
― Jury Prize:
The Banners
The 4th edition of the PyeongChang International Peace Film Festival showcased 16 entries in the Korean Short Competition. In the field of independent cinema, short film is often the front line through which up-and-coming creators begin their journey. We witnessed boundless possibilities in this frontier once again. Throughout the films, we were met with some refreshing points of view, bodily gestures, observations and aspirations from different generations. After much heated discussion, the jury agreed on three winners. While carrying the common themes of family, generation, separation and death, these three projects also compare differently to each other in their cinematic visions and attitudes.
The Grand Jury Prize goes to Hwang Sunyoung’s CITI-100. The directing takes us back and forth between the past and the present, fiction and non-fiction in a free yet thoughtful style, depicting some dream-like moments that you don’t see around but believe do exist. It is the gap between the two worlds that triggers a silent explosion of emotions.
Two films were selected for the Jury Prize:
Nobody’s Land by Cho Hyun-suh sets off with a close-up of an old lady who lost her son, and takes a sharp look at the sociology of class that persists to linger even after death. The grievances and sadness surrounding two deaths, paranoia of the victim and the accused, and the contrasting situations of the bereaved mothers effectively build up the tension. Such direction renders the film powerful, to the degree that the agony of the characters is almost palpable.
Another winner is The Banners by Yoon Haesung. The characters who hang the banner as well as the one whose name is on the banner are portrayed in a stable paced, pure and simple manner through Yoon’s unpretentious directing, and we are able to imagine what they went through in the times not shown on the screen. The visible scars of time on their faces leave a lasting impression.
We would like to congratulate the winners, and extend our gratitude and support to all the 16 films.
Jury: KIM Donghyun, LEE Woo-jung, CHOI Si-hyung
Pitching Project
Feeling Peace
― Terarosa Prize:
나는 개 나이로 세 살반이야 by WON Hara
― Feeling Peace Prize:
Jumping Girl by HONG Hyonjung
― Feeling Peace Prize:
Gate45 by SONG Hyeonbeom
― Feeling Peace Prize:
The Land of Frogs by LEE Junyoung, KIM Sangkyu
― Feeling Peace Prize:
반역자들 by JIN Cheongha
― Feeling Peace Prize:
Without a grandmother by MOON Hanseul, PARK Sunhye
Thank you to everyone who has submitted their projects to the “Feeling Peace” Pitching Project at the PyeongChang International Peace Film Festival 2022. The 12 entries that made it to the final-round pitching represented such a variety of genres and topics that the judging process was truly a pleasure.
The jury selected six prize winners after reviewing them, with a focus on how well the intended concept and perspective of the script fitted with the theme of “peace.” Several other criteria including commercial feasibility, artistic value and potential for further development of the project were also factored in.
We are very excited to see how these stories will transform and evolve, and hope to see them developed thoroughly and come out as good movies that will touch the hearts of a large audience.
Last but not least, many runners-up showed highly promising potential. We regret not being able to name them all due to the limited number of prizes being offered, but we do look forward to seeing them developed and produced into high quality content.
Jury: KANG Jiyoun, LIM Sun-ae, IM Heung-soon
