The Night Is Fading Away by Argentina’s Ezequiel Salinas and Ramiro Sonzini took the grand prize at the 27th Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea.
Scroll down for full list of winners
A unanimous decision by the international competition jury awarded the top prize and $13,800 (KRW20m) to the black and white feature, which follows a struggling projectionist who becomes a night watchman and secretly lives in the cinema.
The film premiered at Chile’s FICValdivia in October and it marks the feature directorial debut of cinematographer Salinas and editor Sonzini, who also scooped the best director prize at Valladolid International Film Week.
Jeonju’s international competition also saw the best film prize awarded to US mystery sci-fi Chronovisor, directed by Jack Auen and Kevin Walker, while the special jury prize went to Vytautas Katkus’s Lithuanian drama The Visitor. Both received a cash prize of $6,900 (KRW10m).
In the Korean competition, comprising features by first and second-time directors, the grand prize was awarded to Lee Seonyeon’s The Summer That Slipped Away. The drama received its world premiere at Jeonju and follows a family who drift through rural towns, working temporary jobs for mobile phone stores, whose work is jeopardised when a box of phones goes missing.
The special jury prize went to Kim Myun-woo’s Karma, which also won the documentary award. Director Kim turns the camera on his father, a legal practitioner that found himself bankrupt following a string of bad investments. Kim previously made short films before joining his father’s office to help pull him out of adversity.
Jeonju will wrap tomorrow with the world premiere of martial law documentary The Longest Night: Namtaeryeong, directed by Kim Hyun-ji. It opened on April 29 with US drama Late Fame and screened 237 films from 54 countries.
Jeonju International Film Festival 2026 winners
International Competition
Grand Prize: The Night Is Fading Away
Best Film Prize: Chronovisor
Special Jury Prize: The Visitor
Special Mention: Michiyuki - Voices of Time
Korean Competition
Grand Prize: The Summer That Slipped Away
Special Jury Prize: Karma
Nongshim Shin Ramyun Award: Water Deer
Best Actor Prize: Ki Jinwoo, Insomnia / Yeo Daehyun, Living Through the Same Season
CGV Award: Living Through the Same Season
Special Awards
Fujifilm Korea Award: Dark Beginnings
Documentary Award: Karma
NETPAC Award: Numb
Cineteca Nacional México Award: Halo
J Vision Award: The Yearbook: Waiting for the Teacher
Korean Competition for Shorts
Grand Prize: Touch, Took
Best Director Prize: Memil
Special Jury Prize: Sales Log
Aero K Award: Post Poo Drop / Whale Hunting
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