Korean Academy of Film Arts director and a digital filmmaker, Park Ki-Yong, jointly heads CinDi with film critic and former Jeonju film festival programmer Chung Sung-ill.
The co-directors stated that CinDi has an emphasis on discovering new Asian directors working in the digital medium; on presenting innovation and diversity in filmmaking, and on the film viewing experience.
The festival has a trifecta of programming consultants - Philip Cheah, head of the Singapore International Film Festival, to scout South-East Asian and Middle Eastern films; Shozo Ichiyama, head programmer at Tokyo FilMex, to find Japanese films, and Li Cheuk-to, Director of Arts at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, to search out films in Chinese-speaking territories.
'I believe film festivals are all about cinematic diversity, and digital is also all about cinematic diversity,' commented Cheah. 'In my part of the world, South-East Asia, where filmmakers are generally poor, digital films have been the saviour.'
All three consultants and the CinDi directors agreed that the associated festivals would not likely experience any conflict of interest in programming premieres, as each would most likely host its own country's premieres, and they all hoped the films would get as much exposure as possible.
Four juries will each award their own prizes - the directors' jury, comprising well-known directors who have previously worked in digital, will award a trophy and approximately $30,000; an international critics' jury, made up solely of film critics and journalists, will award a trophy and about $20,000; and a young Korean critics jury will award a trophy, as will the audience-voted best film.
The Competition Section will comprise about 20 Asian feature films (of minimum 60 minutes running time), complemented by the Invitation Section, screening about 20 non-competitive international selections.
CinDi is scheduled to run July 20 - 27 in the CGV Apkujung multiplex.
No comments yet