DIMF ON-TACT: Opening Concert Streamed for the World

Despite the change in the festival’s scope, don’t be disappointed. The format change opens new opportunities for audiences. The gala concert, which used to be held outdoors annually, will take place at Daegu Opera House with the name “Opening Concert DIMF ON-TACT” on October 23, 2020. Korea’s top musical actors, including Michael K. Lee, Lee Jeehoon, Son Joonho, Jeong Sunah, Min Kyoungah, and globally renowned stars yet to be announced will give various performances.
If you want to be a part of this, all you need to do is have online access. This event will be streamed on Naver TV in Korea, Ticketpia in Japan, and Presented LIVE in China and Indonesia so that not only Korean but also international musical fans can join the festival.
The fun of the virtual event doesn’t stop here. Although it’s become impossible to enjoy international musical productions in person, revisiting 9 overseas pieces included in the official DIMF selection for the past 13 years online will be an incredible, enjoyable experience. Some of them include Mata Hari, the 8th DIMF’s opening performance, starring Sisa Sklovská, Slovakia’s sweetheart; Non Reading Club, a Taiwanese musical that received positive reviews for its musical excellence; I Love Piaf, in which Édith Piaf’s legendary songs pleased audiences’ ears; and La Calderona, the first Spanish hip-hop musical introduced in Korea. All these performances will be streamed for free for 24 hours via the DIMF’s official YouTube channel during the festival period.

Online streaming program

Shine Bright: Korean Musicals

While major international musicals will be streamed online, the original Korean musicals will be shown off-line. This year’s DIMF will showcase the four musical productions selected as recipients of the production support under the theme “revival of original Korean musicals” to international and local audiences.
Our lineup includes the latest musical productions. San Hong is a story about women who lived through the Japanese Occupation of Korea. One of them is the protagonist named Sanhong, who forms an independence activist group of courtesans and tries to make her brother Sunbong a member of the Korean Liberation Army. Meanwhile, Saint-Exupéry reinterprets The Little Prince, one of the world’s favorite books, by switching back and forth between reality and fantasy. The musical Frida: Last Night Show is a monodrama in which Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist known for sublimating her pain through painting, wakes up after her death and reflects on her life. Bomb Explosion at Banquet follows Yun, a female independence activist who decides to act alone to save her comrade and brother held captive after a failed act, and Jaehwi, a Casanova who has no interest in the independence movement yet joins her mission. These four productions granted production support will be shown at CT Culture and Arts Theater, Ayang Art Center, Daedeok Cultural Center, and Eoul Art Center.
You & It, the musical that won the Best Original Korean Musical at the 2019 DIMF Awards and recently finished its run-through in Daehangno, is included in the official 2020 DIMF selection. It is a story of a widower who comes across an artificially intelligent robot that looks exactly like his late wife. In addition, there will also be special performances, such as An Isu in Wonderland, a family musical that reinterprets the types and characteristics of numbers by using a fairy tale as a motif; and Blue and Blue, a musical about Lee Janghui, also known as Gowol, a poetic genius during the Japanese Occupation of Korea.

Offline event schedule

A Festival within a Festival: Another Way to Meet the Audience

DIMF is a festival held in downtown Daegu, but it goes beyond that. During the festival period, DIMFringe takes place across different streets. A portmanteau of “DIMF” and “fringe,” it is a festival within a festival that invites people to enjoy various street performances.
The recently launched 2020 Suseongmot Musical Fringe Festival will be held from October 22 to 25, 2020, during DIMF around Suseongmot Lake. From local artists, members of cultural and art societies to amateurs, anyone is encouraged to perform.
At all DIMF venues, only 33% of the seats will be available for purchase in compliance with the government’s disease control guidelines. Visitors must get their temperature checked and fill out a health screening questionnaire to carry out the festival safely.