Bong Joon Ho to chair International Jury at EIFF

South Korean director Bong Joon Ho [pictured] will chair the International Jury at the upcoming Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), which runs June 19-30.

Bong Joon Ho, whose English language debut Snowpiercer is due later this year, will be joined on the jury by Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer (soon to be seen in Rush) and film critic Siobhan Synnot.

The jury will choose the winner of the award for best film in the international competition. Last year’s winner was Mao Mao’s Here, Then.

EIFF artistic director Chris Fujiwara commented: “It’s a huge honour for our Festival to have Bong Joon Ho, one of the greatest filmmakers, as the Chair of the Jury of our International Feature Film Competition. We’re also honoured and delighted that he will be joined by Natalie Dormer, a brilliant and prolific performer, and Siobhan Synnot, one of Scotland’s leading voices for film culture.”

The festival has also announced that it will host two country focuses this year, showcasing work from Korea and Sweden.

Supported by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korean Film Council and the Korean Cultural Centre UK, the Focus on Korea will screen the likes of Ryoo Seung Wan’s box office hit The Berlin File, O Muel’s debut Jiseul and Park Chan-wook’s new short Day Trip.

The Focus on Sweden, supported by the Swedish Film Institute, will feature the likes of Mikael Marcimain’s Call Girl, Måns Månsson’s debut Roland Hassel and Mauritz Stiller’s Sir Arne’s Treasure (1919), the latter shown with a live musical accompaniment.

“Our Focuses on Korea and Sweden are major components of EIFF’s programme this year. These are undoubtedly two of the most consistently interesting national cinemas, both with a great abundance of filmmaking talent. We have an outstanding selection of stimulating and challenging films from both countries and we’re very happy to be showcasing them,” added Fujiwara.