The 2020 Korea-Indonesia Film Festival will feature 17 Korean and Indonesian films of various genres.
The annual Korea-Indonesia Film Festival (KIFF) is set to be held both online and offline for the first time from Oct. 28 to 31.
This year’s festival will feature 17 Korean and Indonesian films of various genres.
The festival's offline format will run at CGV Cinemas in shopping malls Paris Van Java and Kings Shopping Center in Bandung, West Java. Both have resumed their operations under health protocols. Tickets can be purchased on-site with prices starting from Rp 5,000 (less than 1 US cent).
Opening the festival will be the Indonesian premiere of Choi Jae-hoon’s film The Swordsman, which features South Korean actor Jang Hyuk and Indonesian actor Joe Taslim. Set during the Joseon dynasty amid a conflict between the Qing and the Ming, a swordsman named Tae-yul (Jang) struggles to find his daughter, who has been kidnapped by a slave trader named Gurutai (Joe).
“The Swordsman will only be screened offline,” Rivki Morais, director of the 2020 KIFF, said during a press conference on Wednesday. He added that the film would be available at a one-time show.
Ashfall, Beasts Clawing at Straw, Train to Busan: Peninsula, Deliver us from Evil, Gundala, Habibie & Ainun 3 and Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (Impetigore) will also be screened at the theater.
Those who want to take part in the event from the comfort of their own homes can stream the broadcast on GoJek’s video-on-demand service GoPlay for free. Viewers are required to register to be directed to the festival’s page.
The films that can be streamed on the platform are The Beauty Inside, On Your Wedding Day, Architecture101, Juror 8, A Taxi Driver, The Odd Family Zombie on Sale, The Witch: Part 1 Subversion, Parasite, Beasts Clawing at Straw and Kim Ji Young Born 1982.
Unlike its previous installments, this year’s KIFF will not see the attendance of South Korean and Indonesian actors because of the ongoing health crisis.
Manael Sudarman, CGV Cinemas’ head of sales and marketing, said that the decision to hold the festival in CGV Cinemas in Bandung instead of Jakarta was related to the administration’s regulations.
“We wanted to attract a large audience for the festival, but the situation in Jakarta, with its 25 percent [occupancy] restriction slightly limited the possibility,” Manael said. “[…] Due to limited seating capacity in Jakarta, we were concerned that there was the possibility that audiences would not thoroughly enjoy the festival. Therefore, we decided to screen [the films] in Bandung.”
During the screenings, strict health protocols will be enforced, including a requirement to wear masks, undergo temperature checks and fill out forms for contact tracing.
Established in 2013, the KIFF was initiated by the Korean Embassy in Indonesia, the Korean Cultural Center Indonesia and CGV Cinemas. The festival aims to enhance cultural exchange between Indonesia and Korea through film. (wng)
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