Spring is here, and that means the return of three annual film festivals in the country.

Green Film Festival, International Women’s Film Festival, and Jeonju International Film Festival are all arriving this season, showcasing films dealing with the environment, women’s issues and social changes worldwide.

JIFF

The Jeonju International Film Festival, one of the biggest events for alternative cinema in Korea, kicks off on April 25 with Cannes Golden Palm-winning filmmaker Laurent Cantet’s latest work, “Foxfire,” as its opener.

Held annually in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, JIFF is celebrating its 14th edition this year. It is presenting 190 movies including 118 world premieres.

Women figure prominently at JIFF this year. “Foxfire” is about young women who have been sexually abused, while a coming-of-age tale about a young girl, “Wadjda,” has been selected as the festival closer. “Wadjda” is said to be based on Saudi director Haifaa Al-Mansour’s personal experience growing up in a Muslim society. Al-Mansour is Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker.

Six of the 10 films in the JIFF international competition lineup are also tales about women, while four are directed by female directors.

Notable works include Mexican director Isabel Munoz Cota’s feature debut “Inertia,” a tale about a woman who decides to nurse her ill, increasingly erratic ex, and Chinese filmmaker Xu Hui-jing’s “Mothers,” a documentary about women in China who give birth to many children despite the country’s one-child policy.

JIFF’s Korean competition section also features a total of 10 films this year. The works were selected from among some 100 submissions. The films deal with a variety of subject matters, including youth, performing arts, migration, and contemporary families.

Director Yun Su-ik’s “Groggy Summer” tells the story of a teenager who dreams of becoming a poet against her mother’s wishes. Director Park Moon-chil’s drama “My Place,” on the other hand, deals with a young single mother and her family members. While her mother is overly supportive, her father bashes her decision to raise the child alone.

Laurent Cantet will be one of the judges for the Korean competition, along with celebrated Korean author Kim Young-ha and Carlo Chatrian, the director of the Locarno Film Festival.

For the international competition, acclaimed Kazakhstani film director Darezhan Omirbaev, Cornell University professor Don Fredericksen, Indian director Santosh Sivan, “The Unjust” and “The Berlin File” filmmaker Ryu Seung-wan, and Korean heartthrob Jung Woo-sung are serving as the jury.

The festival runs from April 25 to May 3 at a number of venues in Jeonju. For tickets and information, visit http://eng.jiff.or.kr.

Green Film Festival in Seoul

Seoul’s annual Green Film Festival is celebrating its 10th edition this year. The nation’s first film festival to highlight environment issues, it features a total of 146 films from 42 countries next month.

“A lot of people mistake our festival as a documentary-only festival,” said programmer Kim Young-woo during a press conference this week. “We don’t only screen documentaries. For this year’s edition, we tried to include more feature films as much as possible.”

The upcoming edition opens with “Promised Land,” a 2012 film directed by Gus Van Sant starring Matt Damon. Damon, who also wrote the screenplay, plays a salesman for an energy company. He experiences life-changing events after arriving at an economically struggling farming town to exploit its natural gas trapped underground. The film won the Special Mention Award at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February.

A total of 21 films have been included in its international competition lineup. A total of 980 entries ― 283 features and 687 shorts ― were submitted for the section, the organizers said.

Notable films include Belgian short “Oh Willy,” about an aging man who goes to take care of his ill mother living in a nudist colony, and “Irish Folk Furniture,” a documentary about the process of renovating rotting pieces of furniture left in Irish barns and sheds. Praised for its originality, “Oh Willy” won the Silver Hugo for Best Animated Short at Chicago International Film Festival last year, while “Irish Folk Furniture” won the prize for Best Animation at the Sundance Film Festival this year.

One of the films to check out in the non-competition section is “City Hall,” a second “architecture” documentary created by director Jae-eun. His successful first feature documentary “Talking Architect” (2012) dealt with the last few years of celebrated Korean architect Chung Gu-yon (1943-2011). “City Hall,” on the other hand, features the process of building Seoul’s new City Hall building which opened in 2012.

Actor Ji Jin-hee and actress Son Tae-young are serving as promotional ambassadors for this year’s edition.

GFFIS runs from May 9 to 16 at CGV Yongsan in Seoul. For more information, visit www.greenfund.org.

International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul

Also arriving in May is the International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul, held annually in Seoul’s vibrant university district of Sinchon.

The festival’s organizers unveiled the lineup of its competition section last week, which deals with diverse themes and social and cultural issues that have been affecting the lives of women worldwide.

A total of 373 films were submitted to be considered for the festival’s competition section, said the organizers. Notable works include director Woo Jin’s animated short “Sewing Women,” which deals with the systemic problems that control one’s behavior, and Kim Bo-ra’s “Beast is My Name,” a drama which deals with teenage girls and their desire.

Its full-lineup, as well as the opener and closer ― will be announced next week.

The festival, which runs from May 24 to 30 at Megabox Sinchon, also offers media workshops and education programs for migrant women. For more information about the festival, visit www.wffis.or.kr.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)