DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (Korean: DMZ국제다큐멘터리영화제), also known as DMZ Docs, is a South Korean film festival for documentary films jointly presented by Gyeonggi Province, Paju and Goyang. Launched in 2009, it is held annually for seven days in September/October less than twenty kilometers from the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and showcases films dealing with "peace, coexistence and reconciliation".
DMZ International Documentary Film FestivalOfficial poster |
| Opening film | Farming the Revolution by Nishtha Jain |
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| Closing film | Filmlovers! by Arnaud Desplechin |
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| Location | Goyang and Paju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea |
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| Founded | 2009 |
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| Most recent | 2024 |
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| Awards | White Goose Award (Grand Prize) |
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| Hosted by | Organizing Committee of DMZ International Documentary Film Festival |
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| No. of films | 140 |
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| Festival date | Opening: September 26, 2024 (2024-09-26)
Closing: October 2, 2024 (2024-10-02) |
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| Website | DMZ Docs 2024 Fact Sheet |
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| Current: 16th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival |
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17th DMZ Docs 15th DMZ Docs |
History
- 1st DMZ Docs, October 21-26, 2009
- Films screened: 61 films from 33 countries
- Opening film: The Heart of Jenin, Lior Geller and Marcus Vetter, Germany
- Closing film:
- 2nd DMZ Docs, September 9-13, 2010
- Films screened: 74 films from 35 countries
- Opening film: Peace, Kazuhiro Soda, Japan
- Closing film:
- 3rd DMZ Docs, September 22-28, 2011
- Films screened: 101 films from 30 countries
- Opening film: After the Apocalypse, Antony Butts, Britain
- Closing film: The Tiniest Place, Tatiana Huezo, Mexico
- 4th DMZ Docs, September 21-27, 2012
- Films screened: 115 films from 36 countries
- Opening film: Ping Pong, Hugh Hartford, Canada
- Closing film:
- 5th DMZ Docs, October 17-23, 2013
- Films screened: 119 films from 38 countries
- Opening film: Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits, Park Chan-kyong, South Korea
- Closing film:
- 6th DMZ Docs, September 17-24, 2014
- Films screened: 163 films from 33 countries
- Opening film: Crying Boxers, E Il-ha, South Korea
- Closing film:
- 7th DMZ Docs, September 17-24, 2015
- Films screened: 102 films from 43 countries
- Opening film: I Am Sun Mu, Adam Sjöberg, United States
- Closing film:
- 8th DMZ Docs, September 22-29, 2016
- Films screened: 116 films from 36 countries
- Opening film: One Warm Spring Day, Chung Su-eun, South Korea
- Closing film:
- 9th DMZ Docs, September 21-27, 2017
- Films screened: 114 films from 42 countries
- Opening film: Old Marine Boy, Jin Mo-young, South Korea
- Closing film:
- 10th DMZ Docs, September 13-20, 2018
- Films screened: 142 films from 39 countries
- Opening film: Coming to You, Minu, Jee Hye-won, South Korea
- Closing film:
- 11th DMZ Docs, September 20-27, 2019
- Films screened: 151 films from 46 countries
- Opening film: Across the Desert, Through the Lake Let's Peace!, Park So-hyun, South Korea
- Closing film:
- 12th DMZ Docs, September 17-24, 2020
- Films screened: 122 films from 33 countries
- Opening film: A Long Way to School, Kim Jeong-in, South Korea
- Closing film:
- 13th DMZ Docs, September 9-16, 2021
- Films screened: 126 documentaries from 39 countries
- Opening film: Soup and Ideology, Yang Yong-hi, South Korea
- Closing film:
- 14th DMZ Docs, September 22-29, 2022
- Films screened: 137 documentaries from 53 countries
- Opening film: Keep Stepping, Luke Cornish
- Grand Prize: Disturbed Earth
- 15th DMZ Docs, September 14-21, 2023
- Films screened: 148 documentaries from 54 countries
- Opening film: The Eternal Memory, Chile
- Grand Prize: Obscure Night – Goodbye Here, Anywhere by Sylvain George
- 16th DMZ Docs, September 26- October 2, 2024
- Films screened: 140 documentaries from 43 countries
- Opening film: Farming the Revolution, by Nishtha Jain, India, France, Norway
- Closing film: Filmlovers! by Arnaud Desplechin
- Grand Prize: In Limbo by Alina Maksimenko
Awards
- International Competition: White Goose Award (cash prize of ₩15 million); Special Jury Award (₩7 million)
- Korean Competition: Best Korean Documentary Award (₩10 million); Special Jury Award (₩5 million)
- Audience Award (₩3 million)
- Youth Competition: Best Youth Documentary Award (₩1 million); Excellence Award (₩500,000)
White Goose Award
| Year | Title | Director | Country |
| 2009 | Defamation | Yoav Shamir | |
| 2010 | | | |
| 2011 | The Tiniest Place | Tatiana Huezo | Mexico |
| 2012 | With or Without Me | Tran Phuong Thao, Swann Dubus | Vietnam |
| 2013 | | | |
| 2014 | | | |
| 2015 | Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) | Abbas Fahdel | Iraq |
| 2016 | Those Who Jump | Abou Bakar Sidibe, Moritz Siebert, Estephan Wagner | Denmark |
| 2017 | Communion service | Anna Jametska | Poland |
| 2019 | 143 Sahara Street | Hassen Ferhani | Algeria, France, Qatar |
| 2020 | King Asu | Alyx Ain Arumpak | Philippines, France |
| 2021 | Soup and Ideology | Yang Yong-hi | Korean-Japanese |
| 2022 | Disturbed Earth | Kumjana Novakova and Guillermo Carreras-Candi | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain, North Macedonia |
| 2023 | Obscure Night – Goodbye Here, Anywhere | Sylvain George | France, Switzerland |
| 2024 | In Limbo | Alina Maksimenko | Poland |
Special Jury Award
| Year | Title | Director | Country |
| 2009 | Sweet Crude | Sandy Cioffi | USA |
| 2010 | | | |
| 2011 | Bombay Beach | Alma Har'el | USA |
| 2012 | | | |
| 2013 | | | |
| 2014 | | | |
| 2015 | | | |
| 2016 | When Two Worlds Collide | Heidi Brandenburg, Mathew Orzel | Peru, United States, United Kingdom |
| 2017 | Wash Show | Andrea Dalsgard, Obaida Zaytun | Denmark, Finland, Syrian Arab Republic |
| 2020 | I Am a Journalist | Mori Tatsuya | Japan |
| 2021 | President | Camille Nielsson | Denmark |
| 2022 | We, Students! | Rafiki Fariala | Central African Republic, France, Democratic Republic of Congo, Saudi Arabia |
Best Korean Documentary
| Year | Title | Director |
| 2009 | | |
| 2010 | | |
| 2011 | My Father's House | Kang Yu Ga-ram |
| 2012 | Summer Days in Bloom | Go U-jung, Roh Eun-ji |
| 2013 | | |
| 2014 | | |
| 2015 | | |
| 2016 | The Remnants | Kim Il-rhan, Lee Hyuk-sang |
| 2017 | Forgetting and Memory 2: Looking Back | 4.16 Solidarity Media Committee |
| 2020 | People Who Don't Carry Guns 2: Challenge the Taboo | Hwan-Tae Kim |
| 2021 | Boundary: Flaming Feminist Action | Yoon Ga-hyun |
| 2022 | Time of Seeds | Seol Suan |
Audience Award
| Year | Title | Director | Country |
| 2009 | | | |
| 2010 | | | |
| 2011 | Goodbye Homerun | Lee Jung-ho | South Korea |
| 2012 | Turn It Up to Eleven 2: Wild Days | Baek Seung-hwa | South Korea |
| 2013 | | | |
| 2014 | My Love, Don't Cross That River | Jin Mo-young | South Korea |
| 2015 | | | |
| 2016 | The Remnants | Kim Il-rhan, Lee Hyuk-sang | South Korea |
| 2017 | Rice Flower | Oh Jeong-hoon | South Korea |
| 2021 | A fairy tale in its prime | Won Ho-yeon | South Korea |
| 2022 | I am More | Lee Ilha | South Korea |
Best Youth Documentary
| Year | Title | Director | Country |
| 2009 | | | |
| 2010 | | | |
| 2011 | Uncomfortable Eyes, Uncomfortable Truth | You Seok-hyun, Park Ka-young | South Korea |
| 2012 | Less Than 1% | Ha Seo-young | South Korea |
| 2013 | | | |
| 2014 | | | |
| 2015 | | | |
| 2016 | Between 9 and 0 | Kim Su-min | South Korea |
| 2017 | Step by Step | Heo Na-kyung | South Korea |
Excellence Award in Youth Competition
| Year | Title | Director | Country |
| 2009 | | | |
| 2010 | | | |
| 2011 | High School Student's Guide to Be a Filmmaker | Kim Seul-gi | South Korea |
| 2012 | I Want to Be a Nineteen | Yu Min-ah, Jung Min-su,
Kim Su-min, Kim Seul-gi | South Korea |
| 2013 | | | |
| 2014 | | | |
| 2015 | | | |
| 2016 | We Can Call It Love | Min Geo | South Korea |
| 2017 | Friends | Minseo Kim, Namjoo Kim, Seongjae Lee | South Korea |