From Mike Leigh’s latest to Quay Brothers’ long-awaited return, lineup showcases legacy alongside bold experimentations
The 26th Jeonju International Film Festival has unveiled its Masters section lineup featuring 15 films from acclaimed auteurs and emerging talents for the April 30 to May 9 run.
Headlining the selection is Mike Leigh's character study "Hard Truths," starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste as a caustic London housewife harboring deep emotional wounds. The film marks Jean-Baptiste's reunion with Leigh after her Oscar-nominated role in the 1996 film "Secrets & Lies."
Identical twin animators the Brothers Quay end a 20-year feature hiatus with stop-motion fever dream "Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass," while Japanese New Wave holdout Adachi Masao delivers "Escape," a nuanced character portrait chronicling a militant's five decades of life on the run.
Canadian experimentalist Guy Maddin teams with collaborators Evan and Galen Johnson for political satire "Rumours," featuring Cate Blanchett and Charles Dance as leaders facing an impending apocalypse at a G7 summit.
Francois Ozon brings the psychological thriller "When Fall Is Coming," while Christopher Petit and Emma Matthews present the documentary "D is for Distance," a deeply personal chronicle of their son's battle with epilepsy through intimate footage and third-person narration.
The lineup includes festival circuit veterans like experimental filmmaker James Benning with "Little Boy," and Romanian director Andrei Ujica, whose "TWST - Things We Said Today" offers an unconventional approach to documenting the Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium appearance without showing the actual performance.
British avant-garde filmmaker John Smith turns the camera on himself in "Being John Smith," using his common name to explore identity and anonymity. His two earlier works, "The Girl Chewing Gum" and "The Black Tower," will also be screened.
Canadian director Denis Cote returns to documentary with "Paul," which follows a depressed man who finds purpose performing housework for dominant women. His experimental short "Days Before the Death of Nicky" will also be shown.
Two posthumous documentaries from French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard—"Scenarios" and "Expose du film annonce du film 'Scenario'" — round out the program. These works offer rare glimpses into the auteur's filmmaking techniques and creative process.
"We've approached this lineup like diamond miners searching for overlooked talents," programmer Moon Sung-kyung said. "It is Jeonju's answer to the question of a film festival's role in our times, while also pointing toward where film festivals should head."
The 26th Jeonju International Film Festival will take place from April 30 to May 9 across multiple venues in Jeonju's cinema district.
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
