Ahead of the opening ceremony on April 28 of the Jeonju International Film Festival at Jeonju Dome in the Wansan-gu District of Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do Province, "Good Morning" director Cha Bong-joo (middle) and actors Lee Yoon-ji (right) and Kim Hwan-hee walk on the red carpet. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Jihae

The 23rd Jeonju International Film Festival kicked off on April 28.

The opening ceremony was held at 7 p.m. at Jeonju Dome in the Gosa-dong neighborhood of the Wansan-gu District of Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do Province. The festival runs through May 7.

Considered a symbolic venue of the festival before the COVID-19 pandemic, the dome was prepped for the event again in addition to other venues.

The ceremony was returned to its former scale for the first time in three years with the decline of the pandemic, and the red carpet event was a success.

About 150 domestic and foreign actors walked on the red carpet that day.

The festival's opening film, "After Yang" by director Kogonada, is about the married couple Jake and Kyra who adopt a daughter of Chinese descent named Mika. A humanoid robot named Yang is brought in to teach Mika about Chinese culture. The film is about the events that unfold as Yang, whom Mika adores and trusts like a biological brother, breaks down and the couple tries to repair it.

The festival will show a combined 217 films: 123 from 56 countries and 94 from Korea.

The number is similar to that of the 2019 festival, the last before COVID-19 hit. The films will be shown on 19 screens at five theaters in Jeonju.

The closing film is "Full Time" by Eric Gravel. Julie, a single mother of two in France, has her first interview in a long while for a job she desperately wanted, but a nationwide strike paralyzes her city's public transportation system. She struggles against time to get to her interview.

Of the festival's films, 112 -- 69 foreign and 43 domestic -- are also available on Onfifn (https://onfifn.com), a platform exclusively for Korean film festivals.

Festival chairman Kim Seung-su said at the opening ceremony, "The Jeonju International Film Festival strived to protect art's independence from political power, large-scale capital and conventional wisdom," adding, "We hope that people discover values that they cannot give up and immerse themselves in the film festival for 10 days."

More information on the festival is available on its official website: https://www.jeonjufest.kr

jihlee08@korea.kr