'Hwasung Village Film Festival' Opens September 5 at Closed Seosin Elementary School Jebu Branch Campus

Hwasung Special City (Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun) announced that the 3rd Hwasung Village Film Festival will be held September 5-6 at the sports field of Jebu Branch Campus of Seosin Elementary School on Jebu Island, where the living spaces of citizens of a million-strong city become a movie theater, and ordinary citizens become the protagonists.

The Hwasung Village Film Festival began in 2024 to reflect on the values of people, relationships, and community that are easy to forget as cities develop, through the medium of film.

This year's festival transforms the sports field of Seosin Elementary School Jebu Branch Campus, closed due to declining student enrollment, into a village cinema where island residents and tourists can enjoy films together under the stars. Under the theme 'Island-Seeing Village Cinema,' the festival offers new perspectives on the familiar Jebu Island through the lens of cinema and fills previously empty spaces with people and stories.

Ten films will be screened, including citizen-produced films created by Hwasung youth, adolescents, and activists, as well as external invited works selected by citizen programmers. In addition to film screenings, experience booths for citizen participation will operate, and conversations between directors and audiences (G.V.) will be held.

Since March, preparations for the festival have been led by the Glocal Content Exchange Meeting, a civic organization, in cooperation with Hwasung City, Gyeonggi Province Content Agency, Gyeonggi Province Hwasung-Osan Office of Education, Hwasung Sustainable Development Council, Seosin-myeon Residents' Autonomous Committee, and Jebu-ri Village Association.

The festival is open to all citizens. In particular, this year it is linked with Hwasung City's city tour 'Kind Travel One Day' (Sunset and One Day Course), allowing visitors to enjoy both the festival and local tourism. On September 5, visitors can tour the Songsan Grape Festival during the day and watch films on Jebu Island in the evening.