Frontline is a bold, independent section of JEONJU IFF that embodies the festival's core identity. As global conflicts, discrimination, and hatred intensify, filmmakers from various countries have created powerful projects that shine a light on previously overlooked human stories. This year, many of these films center on women who have suffered under political, social, and religious oppression. Among them, 10 feature films will be showcased at JEONJU IFF.

One such project, From Ground Zero, is a collaborative work by multiple Palestinian directors, comprised of 22 short films that offer a raw and urgent portrayal of the worsening crisis in the Gaza Strip. Areeb Zuaiter'sYalla Parkour presents a stark report on the state of Palestinian youth, whose only escape is parkour, through which they navigate the wreckage of their devastated homeland. Meanwhile, Mahdi Fleifel's debut feature To a Land Unknown follows Palestinian refugees as they journey from Greece to Germany, forced to break laws in their desperate bid for survival.

Afghan director Najiba Noori's feature Writing Hawa tells the story of her mother's journey after learning to read and write at the age of 52. Having spent her life in an oppressive, traditional, and patriarchal society, Noori's mother not only started her own business after becoming literate but also managed to save her abused granddaughter. However, everything she built vanishes overnight when the Taliban seize power in 2021. The theme of oppressed women continues with Ali Samadi Ahadi's feature Seven Days, which follows Iranian human rights activist Maryam. After spending six years in prison, she is granted seven days of medical leave. At the Turkish border, she reunites with her husband and children, who have already sought asylum in Germany. Now, she faces an agonizing choice: escape to freedom or return to prison to continue her fight for equality and democracy. Also focusing on Iran, director Niloufar Taghizadeh's Googoosh - Made of Fire revisits the story of Googoosh, the celebrated Iranian pop star of the 1960s and 1970s. When Khomeini's Islamic rule began, she was placed under house arrest for 20 years, but after eventually leaving Iran, she reclaimed her voice—both literally and figuratively—becoming a leading figure in the Iranian human rights movement. Emily Mkrtichian's There Was, There Was Not tells the stories of struggle centering four women from the Republic of Artsakh, which was absorbed into Azerbaijan following long-standing territorial disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Priscila Padilla's A New Dawn focuses on women who once fought as Colombian rebels, standing alongside men as equals, and their struggles to reintegrate into society after the government's peace treaty. In Every Document of Civilization, Argentina's Tatiana Mazú González crafts powerful imagery depicting a mother's grief and fury over the disappearance of her son, who was taken by the police. Finally, French documentary filmmaker Sylvain George, known for his work on social and immigrant issues in France, presents Obscure night - "Ain't I a child?", which captures the tragic lives of refugee teenagers living along the banks of the Seine, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. (Chun Jinsu)