MEET PIFF AND JIFF, the big brother and little brother of Korean film festivals. The Pusan International Film Festival is 11 years old, while the Jeonju International Film Festival just turned 8. Of course, it’s not a competition. Both festivals are winners, but you love them for different reasons. As the older and wiser of the two, PIFF’s been places, done things, told you stories you’ll never forget. But even so, you’d much rather hang out with little brother JIFF. Why? Because he’s not as conservative. He’s even a little crazy. Zany. Fun.

With 185 films from 37 countries, JIFF, which ran from April 26 to May 4, was clearly not PIFF in terms of size and scope. But it doesn’t need to be. Content with acting as the little brother, JIFF takes more chances, particularly with its specialty programming, which in effect, constitutes most of the festival.

One advantage is JIFF’s home, Jeonju. The former ancient capital of Jeonju is located in a low-profile province, Jeollabukdo, which might fairly be called “the heartland of Southern Korea” (i.e. the place where the farmers live). How does this affect the film festival? Well, the food is damn fantastic for starters, and happy tummies make for happy film viewing. There’s the live music on the big outdoor stage smack in the middle of the downtown neighborhood where they also screen films at night. And finally there are the bicycles, also stationed in the main square, used by filmgoers to tool around between screenings. Nice touch. If a bicycle existed in Busan (formerly Pusan), it would surely be sitting smashed under a city bus, not far from the corpse of its rider.

The films themselves aren’t half bad either. One of the specialty programs, Korean HD Cinema, featured films funded by the Jeollabukdo government. The result was several high-quality films, including the festival opener “Off Road.” Too often Korean cinema is set in Seoul if it’s romantic, and in Busan if it’s anything violent and/or gangster-related.

Another highlight is the annual Digital Project, for which several directors are given a bunch of dough to make a short film. This year’s class included Europeans Pedro Costa, Harun Farocki and Eugene Green. In addition to presenting their short films, all three could be seen daily, doing Q&As at screenings of their other films, introducing other films they had selected, or just wandering around chatting with festival-goers. That is to say, the majority of guests at JIFF were quite accessible.

On the other hand, while PIFF draws top celebrities from Korea, Asia and Europe, there is little chance for interaction. They step out of the car, walk up the red carpet in a shower of flashbulbs, and go into their film. PIFF also usually happens in three or four parts of Busan, so if the filmmakers are around, you’d be hard pressed to see more than one in a day. While one walks around JIFF it’s easy to feel nostalgic for PIFF’s younger days, when the line between filmmakers and the audience wasn’t impenetrable.

As is common in Asia, the festival is relatively noncompetitive. There are no Golden Palms, like at Cannes, nor any of the metallic bears they dole out in Berlin. However, the film that did end up winning the Woosuk Award was “The Other Half” by Chinese director Ying Liang. The film, a somber, sometimes brutal look at contemporary Chinese society, was wildly popular with both audiences and critics at the festival.

Another award worth mentioning was the JJ-STAR Award, given in the Korean Cinema on the Move section. The prizewinner, Kim Jeong-jung’s “HERs” follows three Korean women, all named Gina, who go to America in search of themselves.

“I like both of the festivals,” says resident Park Su-min, currently studying film in Seoul. “But I have to say JIFF is a little more … comfortable.”

It’s hard to disagree with such an assessment. It would be a bit hasty of us to crown JIFF the new champion of Korean film festivals, but not necessarily because older brother PIFF might find out and beat the crap out of you. It’s because little sister PIFAN (the Puchon International Film Festival) is coming up in July. •

Aaron Tassano lives in Busan, Korea. You can visit him at aarontassano.com.