On a clear evening on June 2nd, the Muju Film Festival opened the doors to its 5th edition. The opening ceremony was hosted by actors PARK Cheol-min and KIM Hye-na and featured live performances from famed singer HAN Young-ae, among others.

The ceremony was followed by a screening of Reggae Inna Film, a new stage production put on by directors KIM Tae-yong and YOON Sae-young, which features the stop motion Korean animation classic Heungbu and Nolbu (1967) accompanied by a live music mix of traditional Korean music and reggae. Director KIM is known for films such as Memento Mori (1999) and Family Ties (2006) and also directed a previous live stage version of Crossroads of Youth (1934), the oldest surviving Korean film.

Some of the guests in attendance included directors YIM Pil-sung (Antarctic Journal, 2005), who is serving on the jury this year, YANG Ik-june (Breathless, 2009) and actors CHO Jae-hyun and RYU Hyun-kyung, who served as an ambassador for this year’s edition.

Nine local indies films will compete in the ‘Film Window’ competition section, including PARK Suk-young’s Ash Flower, JUNG Yoon-suk’s Bamseom Pirates, Seoul Inferno and JANG Woo-jin’s Autumn, Autumn.

All screenings at MJFF are free to the public. The festival runs until June 6th.