Jeonju International Film Festival has revealed the 10 features that will compete at its 27th edition, which will open with Kent Jones’ Late Fame and close with the world premiere of martial law documentary The Longest Night: Namtaeryeong.
This year’s edition will run from April 29 to May 8 and comprise 237 films from 54 countries – up 13 titles on last year. This includes 97 Korean films, 140 international films and 78 world premieres.
It will be opened by US drama Late Fame, starring Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee, which premiered in Venice Horizons before going on to play New York, Thessaloniki, Rotterdam and Glasgow among others. Director Jones’ previous credits include 2015 documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut and 2018 drama Diane, of which the latter played at Jeonju.
Closing film The Longest Night: Namtaeryeong is directed by Kim Hyun-ji and documents the aftermath of South Korea’s martial law crisis in December 2024, focussing on the tense standoff between a protest group and the police that took place in Namtaeryeong in Seoul. Director Kim’s debut documentary was 2023’s A Man Who Heals the City.
The full lineup of the upcoming festival was unveiled at two press conferences on Tuesday (March 31) at CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall in Seoul and Jeonju Digital Independent Cinema.
Revealing its selection of international competition titles, the festival said it had received 421 films from 70 countries. All 10 titles are from directors who have made fewer than three features – in line with Jeonju’s ambition to champion rising talent – and will each receive their Asian premieres.
The selection includes US features If I Go Will They Miss Me by Walter Thompson-Hernandez, which premiered at Sundance, and Chronovisor by Jack Auen and Kevin Walker, which debuted at Rotterdam.
CPH:Dox titles that will make the trip to Jeonju include The Calf Doll by India’s Ankur Hooda and documentary Dream Of Another Summer by Spanish-born, Lebanon-based Irene Bartolome.
They will compete for a grand prize, which includes a cash award of $13,200 (KRW20m), alongside a best film prize and special jury prize, which each come with $6,600 (KRW10m).
The previously announced Korean Competition also comprises 10 titles, all world premieres, from first and second-time filmmakers. Festival programmers noted a rise in the presence of documentaries, of which four have been selected for the section.
Special sections include a retrospective of New York underground filmmakers from the 1960s and 70s, including Robert Downey Sr. features Greaser’s Palace and Putney Swope, which were never previously released in Korea.
There is also special programme Back to Hong Kong: Cinema + Avant-garde, which features works from M+, Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture, located in Hong Kong. Most of the titles have been restored in 4K.
Jeonju will also present focuses on Korean director Park Sye-young, Japanese genre filmmaker Ugana Kenichi and pay tribute to prolific actor Ahn Sung-ki, who died in January. Director Byun Young-joo, known for The Murmuring and Helpless, has been named Programmer of the Year.
Jeonju 2026: International Competition
The Calf Doll (India)
Dir. Anjur Hooda
Chronovisor (US)
Dirs. Jack Auen, Kevin Walker
Dream Of Another Summer (Sp-Leb)
Dir. Irene Bartolome
Fantasy (Fr)
Dir. Isabel Pagliai
If I Go Will They Miss Me (US)
Dir. Walter Thompson-Hernandez
Michiyuki – Voices Of Time (Japan)
Dir. Hiromichi Nakao
The Night Is Fading Away (Arg)
Dirs. Ezequiel Salinas, Ramiro Sonzini
Six Weeks On (Ger)
Dir. Jacqueline Jansen
Stone And Feather (Turkey)
Dir. Ragip Turk
The Visitor (Lith-Nor-Swe)
Dir. Vytautas Katkus
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