The 4th DMZ Korean International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs) finished the 7 days of journey on September 4th. At the closing ceremony the director CHO Jae-hyun said, “1 week has passed and the last moment has come. So many great films filled out line-up. Thank you all the attendees for coming.” He then continued saying, “I heard this morning that a Korean singer PSY’s song was ranked at the second place on the Bilboard. Last year, a Korean documentary made a great achievement, too. Planet of Snail directed by YI Seung-jun won the grand prie at the feature competition section of the Amsterdam Film Festival. This is the first accomplishment not only in Korea but also in entire Asia, but this news is not known to many people. This is the present status of Korean documentary.” Finally, he stressed on publication of documentaries saying, “I hope DMZ Docs gets close to the public so documentary can be widely known.”
At the awards presentation, winner of each prize was announced. In the Youth Competition section, Less Than 1％ directed by HA Seo-young won the Best Youth Documentary Award and I Want to Be a Nineteen directed by YU Min-ah, JUNG Min-su, KIM Su-min and KIM Seul-gi won the Excellence Award. LEE Juri‘s Not for Nothing received a special mention in this section. The Audience Award, which goes to the film that receives the highest rating from the audience among the International Competition and Korean Competition sections, was given to Turn It Up to Eleven 2 : Wild Days by BAEK Seung-hwa this year. Summer Days in Bloom directed by GO U-jung and ROH Eun-ji won the Best Korean Documentary Award and a cash prize of KRW 10 milliom (USD 8,980) and With or Without Me directed by TRAN Phuong Thao and Swann DUBUS took the White Goose Award and KRW 15 million (USD 13,470) home.
The 4th DMZ Docs assured its possibility with a wide spectrum of 115 documentaries from 37 countries. It didn’t end up only showing high quality documentaries, but it successfully presented a complex cultural festival by holding diverse programs including various events which newcomers as well as cinephiles could enjoy altogether.