The 17th Jeonju International Film Festival (Jeonju IFF, LEE Choong Jik, the Chairman of Executive Committee) unveils the second program for ‘Special Focus’. This special exhibition, ‘Shakespeare In Cinema’ is consisted of a few films that are digitally remastered and films that need to be appreciated in this day and age. Selection was made based on faithful representation and reinterpretation of the original Shakespearian works.

The British Council and CGV Arthouse have sponsored this special program to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s passing. The overly well-known films were avoided such as Romeo and Juliet, according to programmer LEE Sang-yong. He emphasized, “We chose eight films to be screened that deserve to be revisited in this era were chosen to be screened.

Peter BROOK’s King Lear, Roman POLANSKI’s Macbeth, Derek JARMAN’s The Tempest, Kenneth BRANAGH’s Hamlet are films that represent both the major works of Shakespeare and represent an era. There are also some special films. A collection of diverse silent shorts made between 1899 and 1922 show an early cinematic approach to Shakespeare. Also, Vincent PRICE’s Theater of Blood was inspired by Shakespeare and is packed with the spirit of a B movie wrapped up in comedy and horror.

Laurence OLIVIER from Henry V and Kenneth BRANAGH from Hamlet, which runs over 4 hours, are notable names among them. They directed the film and played as main characters in each film. Shakespeare fans would easily recall their names, since they also have participated in many other Shakespearian works.

‘Shakespeare In Cinema’ will be screened from April 28(Thur) to May 7(Sat) at the 17th Jeonju International Film Festival.