Seoul's only digital cinema fest vows to expand influence

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Screening 92 films from 17 Asian countries, the Cinema
Digital Seoul (CinDi), South Korea's only digital film fest, is looking to expand
global recognition of and its contribution to developing the digital medium,
event organizers said Tuesday.
Running from Aug. 19 through Aug. 25, the annual festival will be screening its
opener and all competing feature films in digital format, a first for local film
fetes. CinDi marks its third anniversary this year.
"CinDi started off with a goal that it will grow together with the development of
digital technology. I am happy and proud to see we have been achieving that goal
each year," Park Ki-yong, joint-chairman of the film festival and a working
digital filmmaker, told a press conference Tuesday.
The festival will introduce a newly established Korean shorts competition section
this year with the hope of discovering young and talented Korean directors, Park
added.
This year's CinDi will open with Chinese filmmaker Lou Ye's "Spring Fever" about
a young threesome overcome with erotic longing. The film, which was produced in
defiance of a five-year ban on filmmaking imposed on Ye by the Chinese government
for his previous film "Summer Palace," was selected the best screenplay by this
year's Cannes film fest.
CinDi's official competition section will comprise 15 Asian feature films
(minimum 60 minutes running time), including Hong Ki-sun's "Murder Case in
Itaewon." Four awards, including 20 million won (US$16,000) cash prizes, will be
given to the best features.
Two runners-up will each receive 10 million won and a chance to screen their
films for a minimum of two weeks at an art theater in Seoul.
Jury members for the features and shorts competitions this year include South
Korea's Lee Jae-yong, Hwang Gi-seok and Lim Soon-Rye, as well as Iran's Abolfazl
Jalili, Kazakhstan's Darezhan Omirbayev, and China's Lou Ye.
Established in 2007, CinDi has been noted for its emphasis on discovering new
Asian directors working in the digital medium and expanding the diversity of
filmmaking.
Sponsored by the CJ Culture Foundation and the Arts Council Korea, the festival
will be held at the CGV Apkujung multiplex in southern Seoul.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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