Gwangju International Film Festival is an international film festival that takes place in Gwangju, South Korea.[1][2][3] The festival was first held from 12/7/2001 to 12/14/2001 at Gwangju Cinema, Mudeung Theater, Jaeil Cinema, and Cine City. The festival was held annually in various venues within the city until it was indefinitely postponed in 2016.[4] It was originally a non-competitive film festival and it was partially converted into a competitive film festival in 2002.[5] The main focus of the festival is to introduce movies that are critically acclaimed but have not been introduced to South Korea and to lay a cultural groundwork by grafting the cultural heritage of Jeollanam-Do together with movie as a new cultural code.[5] It also intends to bring awareness to important historical events such as Gwangju Uprising through films.[6]
From 2001 to 2015, the festival has experienced multiple issues including lack of audiences, technological issues regarding the sound system, and movies being cancelled.[7] The festival was eventually indefinitely postponed in 2016 when an internal conflict within the organizing committee occurred between the chairman and the executive director.[4] The conflict occurred in regards to the settlement of revenue from previous year's film festival and this has threatened the funding of the festival, which caused the festival to be indefinitely postponed 2 months prior to the opening. 500 films from 25 countries in Europe and Asia were received by the organizing committee before it was postponed.[4] Currently, as of 2023, the festival remains postponed.
Kim Daejung Nobel Peace Film Award
Excellent Asia-Pacific Young Director Award[8]
Audience Award
35°09′55″N 126°50′55″E / 35.16528°N 126.84861°E / 35.16528; 126.84861