The 6th DMZ Documentary Film Festival to Take Place in Ilsan

The 6th DMZ Docs Film Festival

The 6th DMZ Documentary Film Festival is due to commence from September 17th (Wed) until 24th (Wed) in the suburban city of Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.

This is the second consecutive year that the festival has operated in Ilsan following the move from the DMZ/Paju region. The films will be screened at the Kintex Megabox Cinema, located nearby Juyeop and Daehwa subway stations on line number 3 (see map below).

111 documentaries from 30 countries comprise the 6th edition, which focuses on the themes of peace, communication and life. The festival will open with director E Il-ha’s (이일하) Crying Boxers (울보 권투부).

In the International Competition program are 12 films that explore an array of human rights, historical and socio-cultural issues from around the world. The winning film will receive a trophy and ₩15 million, as well as the honour of ending the festival as the closing film. Meanwhile the Korean Competition features 9 documentaries that examines a variety of issues related to the peninsula, with the victor set to gain a ₩10 million prize plus a trophy.

For the official DMZ Docs trailer, please see below.

The non-competition category holds notable exciting entries. In Global Vision, exciting works outside of Asia will be screened, including Robert Greene’s Actress which depicts a woman attempting to reclaim her life as a performer, and Andre Singer’s Night Will Fall, exploring the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. Within Asian Perspective, key productions from filmmakers throughout the region appear, such as Adjani Arumpac’s War is a Tender Thing chronicling the effect of war in The Philippines.

Korean Docs Showcase features a mixture of new films as well as a selection that have appeared at prior festivals. The poetic industrial film A Dream of Iron by Kelvin Kyung Kun Park and Hwang Yun’s examination of pig farming practices in The Omnivorous Family are to be screened, alongside sex industry exploration Grace Period, musical docs Hurry Up, Slowly! and Highway Stars, and multi-racial lesbian issues in First Dance.

Opening Film

Crying Boxers (울보 권투부)

Director E Il-ha (이일하)

Crying Boxers

Crying Boxers explores the life of Korean high school students in Japan. While right-wing extremists protest at their existence within Japanese society, the students attempt to study with some taking up boxing lessons after school. With an awareness of the discrimination around them, the students prepare themselves for a boxing tournament as well as for life after high school.

Please see below for the screening venues.