| ▲This photo, provided by Gyeonggi Province, shows a scene of the movie "Keep Stepping" which will be played in the opening ceremony of the movie. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
SEOUL, September 23 (Yonhap) -- The 14th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs) started its journey of eight days on September 22, at Nuri Peace outdoor concert hall in Imjingak, Paju.
Actor Ye Ji-Won and announcer Lim Hyun-ju were the hosts of the opening ceremony, and it was streamed online through their YouTube channel and the Gyeonggi Province Social Broadcast "Live Gyeonggi."
The opening ceremony started off with the opening statement, the film festival trailer, and the special trailer performance of More X Lang Lee. The opening ceremony also featured performances by Kang San Eh, Patricia and Jo One, the cast of the opening film "Keep Stepping," Breaking Symphonic Band, Soul Buns dance crew, Oriental Heroes dance crew, and more. 1,500 people participated in the opening ceremony, including Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Jeong Sang-jin, the Executive Chairman, Kim Dong-ho, the chief director of the Gangneung International Film Festival. Directors Im Kwon-taek and Jung Ji-young, as well as actors Bang Eun-jin, Moon Sung-geun, and Lee Kwang-ki.
Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, said during the greeting speech, "DMZ is changing its meaning from symbolizing political, military, and security confrontation and tension to peace, ecology, and the environment," he said. "In that sense, this film festival is aimed at the value of 'greater peace'." The film festival was scaled down for the past two years due to COVID-19, but it has been expanded for this year. It will be screening 137 recent documentaries from 53 countries, including the opening film "Keep Stepping," which depicts Australian immigrant women's street dancers, at a total of 12 theaters in Megabox Baekseok and Ilsan Bella Citta. 80 of 137 documentaries will be available on "VoDa," an online streaming platform specialized in documentaries. This year, 56 films will be screened in a total of four categories for competition, including international, Asian, Korean, and short films, and six award-winning films (both the Grand Prize and Special Jury award for international and short film competitions).
In addition, at the DMZ-POV event, three special exhibitions, including "City in Resistance: Ways to Build Other Cities" and the "Masters" section, newly established last year, were further strengthened by carefully selected and screened pieces by Daniel Eisenberg, Ritti Pan, and more of the representing documentary directors. Visit (www.dmzdocs.com) for more information.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Dowon Kim.) (END)
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