Jeju Island hosts French film festival and cinema history exhibition

Jeju Island is hosting two major cultural events centered on cinema. The 17th Jeju French Film Festival opens on the 14th, celebrating the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France. The festival features 22 feature films and 18 short films, with the opening film being ‘Madame Bernese’s Rose Garden’. The event includes special sections commemorating the relationship between the two nations and honoring the late film critic Lee Su-won.

Simultaneously, the Jeju Folklore and Natural History Museum is launching a special exhibition titled ‘Chilseongtong Cinema Heaven’, running from the 13th to February 14th. The exhibition recreates the historical atmosphere of Chilseongtong, once Jeju's most vibrant cultural hub, from the Japanese colonial period through the 1970s. It features over 160 movie posters, projectors, and artifacts related to film critic Kim Jong-won, aiming to restore the cultural memory of Jeju's early cinema history.