A Miracle From a Rural School With 30 Students in the Entire Grade… Hwasun Cheongpung Elementary Wins 3 Awards at an International Film Festival

A rural school in the mountains with 30 students across the grades has shaken the world of cinema. A single film launched from a small classroom on the fringes is building a rare “golden tower” of achievement by sweeping up attention from both critics and the general public with 'International Film Festival 3 Awards'.

A Miracle at the Edge, Rural Boys and Girls Take Control of the Global Screen

According to Hwasun County in South Jeolla on the 17th, a feature-length film 'Grandmother and Me, and Dandelion'—created with students at Hwasun Cheongpung Elementary School leading the way—is sweeping major festivals around the world. Starting with the selection of this year’s opening work for Ukraine’s 'ICJ International Film Awards', the film also won a special prize in the student films category at Scotland’s 'Scarlet International Film Festival' and captured the top award for family films at Italy’s 'Night of Shorts Milan International Short Film Festival', proving overwhelming staying power.

The work, set in a former coal-mining village, carefully and warmly weaves together the bond between a granddaughter who transferred in from elsewhere and her grandmother, who is living with Alzheimer’s, as well as solidarity with children from the neighborhood, all within a runtime of 50 minutes. In particular, the aesthetic completion of the film was further elevated after the director, 'Park Kibok', a master from Hwasun who has been delving into the 5.18 democratic uprising and youth issues, took the helm and worked in sync with the students.

The local community is also buzzing over this unprecedented feat. According to a fact-check result, the person who directly visited Cheongpung Elementary School on the 16th to offer encouragement was confirmed to be 'Im Jirak', a lawmaker from the Jeonnam Provincial Assembly, not the head of Hwasun County. He expressed deep respect for the students and faculty members who dedicated themselves to making the film, and said, “I will spare no full-throated support so that the next generation of the region can carry the hometown’s narrative and soar onto the larger stage of the world.”