The members of this jury feel fortunate to be the first to see these feature-length animations. They were made by creators who had dreamed of making animated feature films and worked hard toward their goals. We had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in diverse animated features made across Asia. We wish to thank all of the directors and the members of their staff who undertook the long journeys of their productions. As viewers accustomed to animations from the United States, Japan, and Europe, the works from various other countries such as Iran, China, Thailand, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines felt different and yet also somewhat familiar. As always, when it came time to make the selection, we had much to consider. In that process, we were at times drawn to works made by those directors who began their careers with short animations and had now returned with feature-length projects. At other times, we were entranced by the “joy” contained in a film. There were works that weren’t selected yet made us think deeply until the very end. We hope that those works find opportunities to be seen by Korean audiences. Once again, we wish to thank all the creators behind these animated works.

Comments written by CHOI Yujin on behalf of the MIRINAE ROAD Preliminary Selection Jury Members: LEE Kyunghwa, CHOI Yujin, Jinny Hyejin CHOO