[The 16th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival Official Press Conference / (From Left) KANG Jinseok, (Programmer), CHANG Hae Rang (Festival Director), JANG Byungwon (Program Director)

The 16th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (Festival Director, JANG Hae Rang), which will be opening on the 26th of this month, held an official press conference.   

The press conference was held at GCV Myeongdong Cine Library in September 4th (Wed) 4:30 p.m., and CHANG Hae Rang (festival director), JANG Byungwon (program director), and KANG Jinseok (Programmer) participated in the press conference to introduce this year’s film festival characteristics, main screening films, and programs.    

In the press conference, the festival director, CHANG Hae Rang, commented that “We thought about the roles of documentary film festival in the globally worsening war, climate crisis, hatred, and inequality. To answer this question, we decided “Act Out for Friendship and Solidarity” as the slogan of this year’s film festival.”

He also described the characteristics of this year’s film festival with five keywords and expressed the vision by saying that “in the 16th DMZ Docs, we will unite with domestic and international documentary filmmakers, and broaden the point of contact with audiences, and connect film producers and citizens together.”

Opening Film : <Farming The Revolution> Protest of Indian Farmers During Pandemics   
Closing Film : <Filmlovers!> Love Toward Films and Theaters

[(Left) 16th DMZ Docs Opening Film <Farming The Revolution> Still Cut, (Right) Closing Film <Filmlovers!> Still Cut]

<Farming The Revolution> (Director Nishtha JAIN, Akash BAUMATARI) is selected as the opening film of the 16th DMZ Docs. Amidst COVID-19, thousands of Indian farmers gathered to protest against the Farm Laws that represented interests of only the ruling class. The program director, JANG Byungwon, said that “this documentary is full of scenes that show wisdom and courage of grassroots. The documentary will impresses more people under the film slogan of Act Out for Friendship and Solidarity.”

<Filmlovers!> is a film about an autobiographical story of Arnaud Desplechin about cinephilia, and this film mixes documentary and fiction together. It provokes love toward films and nostalgia of theater watching, and it makes the audiences think again about the presence of cinema.   

Screening 140 Films (80 Feature Films, 60 Short Films) from 43 Countries

Extended Screening Throughout Gyeonggi-do… Featuring “DMZ Docs Plus+”

Non-Theatrical Program Exhibition at LAKINS MALL  

This year, DMZ Docs will be screening a total of 140 films (80 feature films, 60 short films) from 43 countries. It maintains the program reorganization tone from the last year while quickly reflecting the latest documentary trends at the same time. It is also encouraging to see that the opening film and a considerable number of films funded by DMZ Docs Industry are selected as the screening films.  

The 16th DMZ Docs moved the main theaters to MEGABOX KINTEX and Lotte Cinema Juyeop. The festival road named “DMZ Docs City Walk” is arranged at the path connecting from Subway Line 3 Juyeop Station to theater to hold a variety of events where citizens and audiences can participate together. There also will be “DMZ Docs Plus+” to expand the screening venue from Goyang Special City to Gyeonggi-do areas. There will be screening at Suwon Special City’s Suwon Media Center, Paju-si Heyri Cinema, Ansan-si Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, and Yongin City Nam June Paik Art Center. 

The Non-Theatrical Program was newly opened last year and celebrates the 2nd anniversary this year. The program will be held at the main film festival space, LAKINS MALL. In this program, 9 scenery films demonstrating the world from the perspectives of scenery, geography, and landscape under the topic of “The Landscape as the State of World” will be screened in the form of non-theatrical installation.  

DMZ Docs Focus  

Heinz EMIGHOLZ -Filmography as Autobiography, Modern Korea Cinema , Chronicle of Solidarity

Like the previous film festival, there will be three forms of special Program Section, Focus, including Heinz EMIGHOLZ -Filmography as Autobiography, Modern Korea Cinema , Chronicle of Solidarity. The Heinz EMIGHOLZ -Filmography as Autobiography is about a German architecture documentary director, Heinz EMIGHOLZ. It screens “Filmography as Autobiography” consisting of his 14 films and features a drawing exhibition, “Oblique Vision,” with installations of hundreds of drawing works. The “Oblique Vision” will be held at Goyang Artist Residency Haeum, and there also will be a drawing master class with Heinz EMIGHOLZ. The Modern Korea Cinema, is arranged to commemorate KBS archive project, Modern Korea, and the theater version will be first released in the film festival. The Chronicle of Solidarity, spotlights the video activism of Korea, and it also focuses on the omnibus project made in solidarity of documentary Korean documentarists.    

The documentary streaming platform, docuVoDA, will be holding an online exhibition, ‘Short is Beautiful’. It will be screening 30 short films included in the Korean Competition Section, Non-Competition Section, and Heinz EMIGHOLZ Artist Exhibition. There also will be a special artist exhibition on a globally famous experimental documentary artist, Tomonari NISHIKAWA.     

New Establishment of DMZ Docs Forum

This year, DMZ Docs will be newly presenting “DMZ Docs Forum” that covers various issues, such as beauty of documentary, support policies, social roles, and living right of producers. It sets five forum topics as an action plan for this year’s slogan, Act Out for Friendship and Solidarity, and arranges a debate with experts in documentary production and various fields. The DMZ Docs Forum will be held during the film festival period, and it will play a role as the open debate forum where all creators and audiences can share their opinions candidly.  

2024 DMZ Docs Industry

2024 DMZ Docs Industry discovers and supports outstanding documentaries of Korea and Asia, and it will be held from September 28 to October 2nd. The DMZ Docs Fund (Korean POV 2024, THE VODA FUND) supports projects in planning, development, and early production stages, and DMZ Docs Pitch supports projects in product and editing stages. The winners will be granted benefits of showcase, open pitching, and business meeting during the film festival period. Documentary Market also will be held during the film festival to encourage active interaction of global documentary industry and creators. To discover intangible asset documentaries, UNESCO ICHCAP and ICHCAP Award are newly established to select one winner and support 10 million won.   

Program for Educating and Supporting Future Documentary Creators

There also will be continuing education and support programs for future documentary creators. Youth Documentary Production Workshop celebrates its 14th anniversary this year, and it provides media literacy education, discovers outstanding contents, and fosters future creators. The worship will be screening a total of 12 films during the film festival period. Asian Docs Co-Production Network Project celebrates the 5th anniversary. In this project, young documentary creators from Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore co-produce documentaries about Asia. A total of four films will be screened during the 16th film festival period.    

The opening ceremony of the 16th DMZ Docs will be held at Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri Outdoor Theater in September 26, and DMZ Docs will be running DMZ Film Festival Special Train from Seoul Station to Imjingang Station for the convenience of audiences attending the opening ceremony. For details, please refer to the official website (www.dmzdocs.com) of the film festival.