Jeonju International Film Festival programmer Yoo Un-seong’s sudden dismissal from his position has been branded by cinema devotees as unjust and political.

Yoo, who had worked as JIFF’s programmer for eight years, claimed in a tweet that he was “unjustly” dismissed by the festival committee on June 5.

The film critic, who started working as JIFF programmer in 2004, argues he was fired for remarks he made during a JIFF press conference last month which apparently enraged many Jeonju-based reporters. He claims that the press in Jeonju pressured the JIFF committee to dismiss him.

During this year’s JIFF warp-up press conference on May 4, Yoo received a question from a Jeonju-based reporter who argued the festival “does not offer much aside from screening movies for Jeonju residents.”

To this, Yoo said JIFF does not screen movies as something complementary, but revolves around film screenings. Those who are interested in additional, non-film events should look into other festivals, such as the Yeosu Expo, he added.

Yoo’s remarks were severely criticized by the Jeonju-based press, who accused JIFF of “not doing enough” to create cultural and economic benefits for Jeonju.

After Yoo announced JIFF’s decision to dismiss him, a number of international cineastes wrote letters calling for his reinstatement.

Olivier Pere, artistic director of Festival de Film Locarno, wrote that he was “deeply shocked” by the “brutal and wrongful” decision of JIFF.

“In order to continue the long term and successful collaboration between the Festival del film Locarno and JIFF, we ask to immediately revert Un-seong as a programmer,” he wrote.

Chris Fujiwara, artistic director of Edinburgh International Film Festival, said Yoo’s dismissal “puts the ability of the festival to maintain its place as a world-class film festival in serious doubt.”

“If Jeonju is now known as one of the major Asian film festivals, it is in large part thanks to the outstanding quality of Un-seong’s programming and to the strong relationships he has established with filmmakers, film festival directors, and film programmers around the world,” he wrote.

JIFF director Min Byung-rok and his committee said there was “no pressure from outside forces” to dismiss Yoo, and the decision was made solely upon Yoo’s “dogmatic” behavior at this year’s edition of JIFF.

Meanwhile, a number of JIFF staff members also released an official statement saying the committee’s decision to dismiss Yoo was unjust.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)