Samcheok Haerang Film Festival sets beachwear dress code, opens Sept. 4 on the beach

Beachwear takes center stage at Samcheok Haerang Film Festival as “My Name Is” opens Sept. 4

The two-day festival offers a unique experience with films enjoyed from beanbags on the beach, along with a five-film retrospective of director Bae Chang-ho’s work

The 3rd Samcheok Haerang Film Festival will open in grand fashion Sept. 4-5 at and around Samcheok Beach. The festival will turn the wide-open beach into a giant screen, offering an unconventional cultural experience where audiences can watch films while relaxing in beanbags and camping chairs.

The most eye-catching feature is the unconventional “dress code” for the opening and closing ceremonies. The festival is breaking from the solemn format of traditional film events with a “beachwear” concept, inviting attendees to embrace the romance of the shore in Hawaiian shirts, loose linen shirts and similar attire. At the opening ceremony on the main stage at Samcheok Beach on Sept. 4, the program will begin with a screening of director Jung Ji-young’s “My Name Is”, followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience, an energetic performance by “DJ Subin” and a fireworks display lighting up the night sky.

During the festival, the cinematic lineup will extend beyond the Samcheok Beach stage to “Samcheok Garam Cinema”. The venue will screen a carefully selected lineup of feature films and finalists from the competition.

A master’s retrospective and a boost for the local community

At the “Isabu Dokdo Memorial Hall”, a special retrospective will screen five films personally selected by Bae Chang-ho, one of South Korea’s leading filmmakers, including “Whale Hunting” and “Our Joyful Summer Days.” Each screening will be followed by a conversation with the audience, offering a meaningful opportunity to revisit the veteran director’s distinguished filmography on the big screen.

The event will draw prominent figures from South Korea’s film industry, including Shin Hyun-joon, chairman of the organizing committee, as well as directors Jung Ji-young and Bae Chang-ho.

Ahead of the festival, the “Samcheok Tourism and Culture Foundation” successfully ran a series of advance programs designed to build excitement, beginning with a screening of the film “The Man Who Lives with the King” on Aug. 29 and continuing with a preview program on Sept. 2. The foundation also distributed promotional aprons to local restaurants and other businesses as part of a detailed advance campaign designed to help residents and tourists encounter the festival naturally in their daily lives.

Yoo Jae-hyun, secretary-general of the Samcheok Tourism and Culture Foundation, said, “For this year’s Haerang Film Festival, we planned a diverse range of programs so residents could encounter films throughout the community and take part in the event naturally even before it began.”