CJ Cultural Foundation is continuing its support for Korean-heritage filmmakers working in North America. This year it selected three creators who completed screenplay development mentoring, awarding each about 10 million won.
The foundation said on the 14th that it provided 10,000 Canadian dollars each to three finalists at the CJ&TIFF K-Story Fund awards ceremony, held on the 12th in Toronto, Canada, during the 51st Toronto International Film Festival.
The K-Story Fund is a support program CJ Cultural Foundation has run since 2023 with TIFF and the Korean Film Council to help Korean-heritage filmmakers in North America develop their feature debuts and follow-up projects.
This year, eight projects were shortlisted from applications submitted between November last year and January. The teams received about four months of screenplay development mentoring from CJ ENM, an affiliate of the foundation, from March through June. After a review, three projects were chosen for final support: "I Don't Understand" by Andrea Bang, "The Invisible Land of Love" by Jiyoon June Lee and "Camellia Girl" by Josh Kim.
The ceremony took place at TIFF's "Korean Film Night" event. Marking the foundation's 20th anniversary this year, a video introducing its past support for creators was also screened. CJ Cultural Foundation, TIFF and the Korean Film Council held a signing ceremony the same day to continue their cooperation on the K-Story Fund.
"We will continue our support so that creators can thrive on the global stage," said Min Hee-kyung, head of CJ's social contribution division.
