18th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival – Awards 2022

By Asian Film Festival on August 16, 2022 • ( 1 Comment )

These are the winners of the Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (JIMFF) which took place from August 11 – 16, 2022.

International Competition

Grand Prize Award

**Sirens** by Rita Baghdadi – USA, Lebanon | 2022 – 78 minutes

On the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and her thrash metal bandmates, Shery, Maya, Alma, and Tatyana, have big dreams but few opportunities. When the band’s appearance at a UK music festival isn’t the life-changer they had hoped for, Lilas comes home to Lebanon on the brink of collapse. At the same time, the complicated friendship between Lilas and her fellow guitarist Shery starts to fracture. The future of her band, her country, and her dreams are now all at stake, and Lilas faces a crossroads. (JIMFF 2022)

Trailer:

Jury Special Mention

**Poser** by Noah Dixon, Ori Segev – USA | 2021 – 87 minutes

Wallflower Lennon Gates yearns for access to the inner sanctum of the underground music scene in Columbus, Ohio. When she creates a podcast to interview the local artists she adores, Lennon discovers her own musical ambitions, develops a fast friendship with the striking, confident performer Bobbi Kitten, and in the process creates an identity not wholly her own. Soon, Lennon’s aspirations, with some constructive coaxing from Bobbi to find her voice, lead her down a path of dark obsession. (JIMFF 2022)

Trailer:

Korean Competition

Best Feature Film

**Withstanding and Existing** by Gwon Churl – Korea | 2022 – 64 minutes

Cinema Gwangju is the first theater in the Honam-region and the only theater that opened in 1935. The cinema has screened films in its original place up to these days. A musician Gonne Choi invites the seven musicians to share “Gwangju-ness” from her own perspective and they visit the cinema to speak and sing about their own “Withstanding and Existing”. This documentary also contains the story of the painter Park Tae-gyu, who continuously has been working on hand-painting movie posters from the 1990s until today. (JIMFF 2022)

Trailer:

Best Short Film

**Remember Our Sister** by Jo Hayoung – Korea | 2022 – 29 minutes

In the 1980s, Dongducheon base village. Hong spends a pleasant time with her older sister Yeon-ok. But the hostess disturbs Hong’s perfect daily life. (JIMFF 2022)

Trailer:

JPP Award Winners – Production Support

**Looking For** by Kim Taehee – Korea | 80 minutes

The hard disk drive of a film disappeared right before its completion. The culprit is the director of photographer, but Director has been out of touch with all the staff since the filming due to discord. However, to complete the film, he swallows his pride and visits his friend, the sound director. But, only they get into a fight and he finds no clues where it is. Finally, he gets to be chased by the people he worked with… Will he be able to finish the film safely? (JIMFF 2022)

Promo Video:

**404 Still Remain** by Uhm Ha-neul – Korea | 120 minutes

A senior in middle school Kyung-hwan transfers from the countryside to the big city Daegu, and he is a sexual minority with a hobby of listening to Japanese music. Kyung-hwan finds out that his classmate Jaemin listens to Japanese music secretly, and the two soon become close. School life, where grades and strength are the criteria for all ranks, is burdensome to Kyung-hwan, and Jaemin silently helps him. Kyung-hwan gradually becomes fond of Jaemin and one day, he confesses to Jaemin that he is a sexual minor. After that day, Jaemin suddenly becomes distant from Kyung-hwan and gradually changes… (JIMFF 2022)

Promo Video: