16th DMZ Docs festival to focus on solidarity in times of hardship

The 16th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival will be held in thaters around Gyeonggi from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 with a focus on solidary in times of conflict.

DMZ International Documentary Film Festival's director Chang Hae-rang, center, speaks during the festival's press conference held in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday. To his left is programmer Kang Jin-seok, and to his right, program director Jang Byung-won. [DMZ DOCS]

The 16th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs), one of Korea’s largest documentary-focused events, aims to delve deeper into the harsh realities of times of hardship and reflect on the significance and role of documentaries during such periods.

“We thought about what a documentary film festival should do in a time when war, climate crises, hatred and inequality are globally intensifying,” the festival director Chang Hae-rang said during the festival’s press conference held in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday. “As an answer to that, we set this year's festival slogan as ‘act out for friendship and solidarity,' with thoughts of sharing the pain and suffering and trying to face them together.”

Under its slogan, DMZ Docs is set to kick off on Sept. 26 and run through Oct. 2, screening 140 films in theaters around Gyeonggi, including Megabox Kintex and Lotte Cinema Juyeop in Goyang.

A still of this year's DMZ International Documentary Film Festival's opening film ″Farming the Revolution″ [DMZ DOCS]

The opening film for this year’s festival is “Farming the Revolution,” directed by Indian filmmakers Nishtha Jain and Akash Basumatari. The film centers on one of India’s biggest protests held during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, as an endless number of farmers gathered in Delhi to oppose the newly enacted farm law.

“We selected this film to open the festival as we believed that it perfectly suited this year’s DMZ Docs’ slogan,” program director Jang Byung-won said.

“[The farmers] stayed for thirteen long months on the highways and created a new zone of possibility behind the police barricades and a new language of the people's power,” said director Jain in a surprise video clip during the press conference.

The director will also attend the opening ceremony held at Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri Theater in Gyeonggi.

This year's DMZ Docs made a change by selecting its closing film beforehand, instead of screening the winning film of its International Competition section as it did in previous festivals.

A still of this year's DMZ International Documentary Film Festival's closing film ″Filmlovers!″ [DMZ DOCS]

“We decided to take a different approach from this year by selecting the closing film and announcing it ahead of time,” DMZ Docs’ program director Jang said. “We tried to choose a piece that allows the audience to reflect on the meaning of the festival’s closure together.”

An official poster of the 16th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival [DMZ DOCS]

Following the new approach, French director Arnaud Desplechin’s film “Filmlovers!” is set to close the festival. It is an autobiographical story of the director’s thoughts on cinephilia. The "hybrid film," according to Jang, showcases a blend of documentary and fiction that explores the experience of watching a movie in a deep yet humorous way.

The festival also aims to bridge documentary filmmakers and the public by organizing different events, such as an archive exhibition of the festival, concerts and hands-on programs for visitors to enjoy and get a step closer to the documentary genre.

Three special exhibitions will be held during the festival, including one dedicated to German director Heinz Emigholz, known for his extended filmography and drawings. The exhibition will feature 14 films, including his latest works, along with showcasing his drawings.

“We hope that through the 16th DMZ Docs, we can build solidarity with documentary filmmakers from both domestic and international backgrounds, expand connections with audiences, and bridge the gap between creators and the public,” Chang said.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]