A Glimpse Into the Visionary Worlds of Master Filmmakers! The 27th Jeonju International Film Festival Announces 11 Titles for the Masters Section

With the festival opening just around the corner, the Jeonju International Film Festival has revealed the titles in its Masters section.

Celebrating its 27th edition, the Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) unveiled the Masters section titles on March 24. Masters is a section dedicated to highlighting works by filmmakers who have carved out their own distinctive cinematic worlds—in total, 11 films have been invited for screening this year.

Director André Novais Oliveira, whose minimalist filmmaking stands out, presents 〈If I Were Alive〉, a unique and moving love story that crosses multiple genres. Director Alain Gomis’s new work 〈Dao〉 invites audiences to reconsider the boundaries between film genres through two ceremonies: a wedding in France and a memorial rite in Guinea-Bissau. Both films were unveiled at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

Ignacio Agüero’s 〈Letters to My Dead Parents〉 looks back on the changes that unfolded in his family and his country over the past 50 years, observed through the space of a home courtyard. Director Ross McElwee, continuing his long-running documentary filmmaking, also meets audiences with 〈Remake〉. First unveiled at the Venice International Film Festival, 〈Remake〉 was created as a film that mourns a son who passed away first and remakes their lives anew, using old footage that captures the relationship between the director and his son.

Chai Ming-liang’s 〈Night Journey〉 (with 〈Back Home〉) expands into contemplative time, following a traveler’s quiet footsteps with the Czech Republic as its backdrop. Chai Ming-liang previously met audiences at the 25th Jeonju International Film Festival by presenting the special exhibition “Chai Ming-liang – The Traveling Notes Series” (蔡明亮 - 慢走長征 系列作品), and he is set to film his next traveler in Jeonju.

Jose Luis Guerin’s new film—his first in 11 years—and the recipient of the Special Jury Prize at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, 〈Good Valley Stories〉, tells the story of Valbona, located on the outskirts of Barcelona. It shows that his signature cinematic style and his way of looking at the world are as strong as ever. Director Radu Jude, who led the opening film of the 26th Jeonju International Film Festival, 〈Continental ‘25’〉 (2025), and director Adrian Tchoflancé’s 〈Shot Reverse Shot〉 present a short film that places an American journalist’s records from a visit to communist Romania in the 1980s alongside the government files that kept tabs on him.

Eugene Green’s 〈The Tree of Knowledge〉 is made with minimal cinematic tools. It follows a teenage boy, Gaspard, on a journey to break free from a contract with the devil. Director Zhang Lu, whose film won the Busan Award for Best Film at the 30th Busan International Film Festival with 〈Mothertongue〉 (2025), will also be unveiled in Jeonju. This film follows 〈Mothertongue〉 (2025), continuing as a series: prompted by an outsider who appears in the hometown, it captures the process of looking at the familiar home in a new way—and encountering yet another beginning.

Hitta Azevedo Gomes, a master filmmaker from Portugal, presents 〈Fuck the Polis〉. It’s a film about a journey in which one person’s life comes to connect with the art humanity has built over time, and it won an award at an international competition at the Marseille International Film Festival. 〈The Piano Accident〉, by Quentin Dupieux—known for inventive, absurd filmmaking—is a comedy that satirizes the threats and downfall that befall a famous influencer.

“Through their new works, [they] show that film is still alive as an art form with their extraordinary capabilities—and in this complicated and ambiguous era, film is an art that is needed even more,” as programmer Moon Seong-kyung said. Carrying distinct cultures and languages, the films can be seen at the Jeonju International Film Festival, running from Wednesday, April 29, through Friday, May 8.