‘Wind Up: The Movie’(left) and ‘After-school Exorcism Club: Girls’ Night’ posters.
NCT members Jeno and Jaemin, and Fifty Fifty, have been invited to the 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
The global K-POP short-form platform Kitz stated on the 10th, “The short-form drama ‘Wind Up’ starring Jeno and Jaemin, and the theatrical version of ‘After-school Exorcism Club’ starring Fifty Fifty, have been invited to the 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (hereafter BIFAN) and will meet audiences.”
Both works have been selected as official screenings in the BIFAN curated program ‘Platform Showcase: Short-form Cinema’. Following recent news of an exclusive CGV release, their BIFAN screenings have also been confirmed, drawing attention as examples that demonstrate new possibilities for short-form content.
‘Wind Up: The Movie’, starring Jeno and Jaemin, is a sports coming-of-age drama about a high school baseball pitcher who cannot throw a strike and a transfer student who volunteers to be his manager, portraying the sparkling, pure friendship of two boys. After its release in January, the premium short-form drama ‘Wind Up’ accumulated around 30 million views, including across SNS channels and within the Kitz app, and has been adapted into a film set to open on July 2. Re-edited from a vertical original into a horizontal format, it offers deeper immersion, with the synergy of Jeno and Jaemin, who perfectly transformed into baseball boys, standing out for the heated response they provoked. The delicate direction of director Kim Sung-ho, who helmed ‘Move to Heaven: I Am a Deceased-Belongings Organizer’ and ‘True Swordsmanship’, also adds strength to the film.
‘After-school Exorcism Club: Girls’ Night’, starring Fifty Fifty, is a teen occult comedy featuring a quirky, lively quintet of high-school girls who band together to banish an earthbound spirit haunting the school. As the film version of the premium short-form drama ‘After-school Exorcism Club’, which marks Fifty Fifty in their first acting challenge, it shares a universe with the fourth mini album ‘Imperfect-I’mperfect’ by Fifty Fifty. Conceived with multiple formats in mind, including film, mid-form series, and short-form drama, the movie incorporates animation not included in the short-form drama, offering a richer narrative. Following its theatrical release on June 25, it can also be viewed at BIFAN.
The BIFAN invitations for ‘Wind Up: The Movie’ and ‘After-school Exorcism Club: Girls’ Night’ add significance in that short-form content is expanding into various formats and broadening points of contact with audiences. As they will be presented on the theatrical screen, they are expected to offer another viewing experience, and the screening schedules for each work will be announced later.
Meanwhile, Kitz is building a differentiated content lineup led by K-POP artists. It has steadily unveiled new titles such as ‘Wind Up’ starring NCT members Jeno and Jaemin, ‘Jump Boy LIVE’ starring VERIVERY (VERIVERY) Kangmin, ‘Kill the Romeo’ starring CRAVITY (CRAVITY) Hyeongjun, and ‘After-school Exorcism Club’ starring Fifty Fifty. Going forward, it plans to present ‘Grim Reaper Life-Extension Project’ starring Lee Min-gi and MONSTA X (MONSTA X) Hyungwon, and ‘Love WiFi-Gung’ starring Yeong-hun, I-ruda, and Kim Dong-jun, in a multi-format rollout spanning film, mid-form, and short-form.
