“Korea will lead the world in the future. We have seen the spirit of unity, which is the most essential factor in our globalized society, at the DMZ Documentary Film Festival.”

The 1st DMZ Documentary Film Festival, organized by Gyeonggi Province and held in the DMZ and Paju, closed with the audience demanding an encore.

The DMZ Documentary Film Festival had many significant moments. From an Israeli director and a Palestinian director talking about peace while watching films, to participants hiking through the DMZ, the festival seemed to promise new directions for the co-existence of both North and South Korea as well as the international community.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-Soo said, “The festival is highly meaningful in the sense that the DMZ, a closed space, was turned into a space for peace and dreams. I would like to promote the values of the DMZ, including its peace, life, environment and ecosystems, and develop the area into a global tourist destination for its national security interest and its ecosystems, through the DMZ Documentary Film Festival.”

The festival featured 61 world-class documentary films, and expanded in to a broader cultural festival with the 2009 Paju Bookcity Book Festival and diverse auxiliary events, including exhibitions, street performances and workshops.

In particular, a movie theater was opened in Daeseong-dong in the DMZ, which will serve as a cultural space for local residents and soldiers alike. The DMZ Docs Peace March and DMZ Peace Bike-Riding Event were very popular among visitors, as participants in both programs could see the landscape of Imjin River and the iron fence that symbolizes our national division.