Organizers of the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) on Tuesday unveiled a list of selected films and galas that demonstrate their ambition to lift Asian talents and turn the annual event into a focal point of the world cinema market.
The festival will open with the South Korean outstanding melodrama, "Trace of Love," by Kim Dai-seung, and close with the Chinese black comedy, "Crazy Stone," by Ning Hao. During its nine-day run from Oct. 12, a series of market and educational programs and outdoor concerts will take place alongside beaches in the southeastern port city of Busan.
The festival will feature 245 films from 63 countries, with 94 of them from Asia. Organizers boasted there will be 64 world premiers, the largest-ever number in the festival's 11-year history, which testifies to the raised status of the event.
"During the past 10 years, we have focused on making this event Asia's representative festival. Now we see a new chapter for Asian movies on the horizon and this year we are starting programs to boost regional films, like an Asian film market," said Kim Dong-ho, head of the festival's organizing committee.
Ten films by up-and-coming talents in Asia will vie for the prize of the New Currents section, the only internationally competitive section at the festival.
Outstanding, but lesser-known, Southeast Asian movies will meet world audiences in the section titled A Window on Asian Cinema.
The 39 movies from 14 countries reflect the growing investment in cinema in the region, said Kim Ji-seok, the sectional programmer.
"I ask you to pay attention to movies from Vietnam, Malaysia or the Philippines. There have been government policies to promote homegrown movies in the region, and also the growth of independent movies on a private level. We expect these wonderful movies will prove that such changes are being made there," Kim said.
The Korean Cinema Today section will introduce young and up-and-coming talents. Besides box-office hits like Bong Joon-ho's "The Host" and Lee Joon-ik's "The King and the Clown," there are low-budget, critically-acclaimed movies like "Family Ties" by Kim Tae-yong and "Woman on the Beach" by Hong Sang-soo. The controversial political film by Im Sang-soo, "The President's Last Bang," which depicted the last moments of former President Park Chung-hee before his assassination, will be screened in its original version, as some sensitive scenes were removed from general theater screenings by a court order, .
Many European movies presented at the PIFF will revolve around questions about contemporary humanity and the clashes of old and new values. "Requiem" by German Hans Christian Schmid will challenge the religious tradition that has given European society much of its conventional identity.
Marking the 120th anniversary of Korea's diplomatic relations with France, contemporary French movies will also vie for audiences' attention.
The Critics' Choice section will present 12 features including "12:08 East of Bucharest" by Corneliu Porumboiu of Rumania, and "Butterflymole" by Suh Myung-soo of South Korea.
The event also presents educational and marketing programs.
Korea's representative director, Im Kwon-taek, will lead this year's Asian Film Academy as dean. Meanwhile, a new documentary section will be inaugurated with a US$120,000 fund to support Asian filmmakers.
For those interested in the early roots of Korea's booming movie industry, there is a retrospective section that will shed light on dated films that portray Korea's painful modern history.
They include "Sweet Dream" (1936), the oldest movie known to have survived to the present day, which depicted a woman's desire and her conflict with Korea's Confucian traditions, "Straits of Cho Sun" (1943), set during World War II, and "Bound by Chastity Rule" (1962), by the legendary director Shin Sang-ok, who died early this year.
Seoul, Sept. 12 (Yonhap News)
Pusan film festival organizers unveil entry list |
