ID :
206159
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 06:24
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https://oananews.org//node/206159
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Busan film festival to feature diverse world films
SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- The annual Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which opens this year on Oct. 6, will feature a rich lineup of 307 films from 70 countries around the world, as well as concerts and other special events, organizers said.
Organizers said they have put much emphasis on the diversity in international cinema, screening more works from Africa, Latin America and other regions, though its perennial focus on Asian films will remain intact.
"We invited leading films from Africa and Latin America, which can be hardly seen on usual days, to the festival, in order to make it more enjoyable," Busan Mayor Hur Nam-sik, also chief organizer of the BIFF, said in a news conference in Seoul on Thursday.
Launched in 1996, the annual festival has already developed into the largest of its kind in Asia.
Hur said this year's event, the 16th, marks the start of "a second leap" as it moves into the Busan Cinema Center, a new home with two movie theaters, an office building, a restaurant and a 4,000-seat outdoor performance hall.
This year's festival is set to be held at five theaters, including the Busan Cinema Center, in the southern port city of Busan on Oct. 6-14. The number of films that will be screened at the 16th BIFF is similar to past years, but the number of world premiers, 89 for this year, will be fewer than in the past.
Opening this year's festival will be "Always," a melodrama directed by South Korea's Cannes Jury Prize winner Song Il-gon. The film is about a retired boxer who falls in love with a woman slowly going blind.
The festival will close with Japanese director Masato Harada's "Chronicle of My Mother." Based on a work by Japanese writer Yasushi Inoue, the film is about a mother's unconditional love for her son.
The BIFF has 11 sections, including "Gala Presentation," "A Window on Asian Cinema" and "New Currents."
The Gala Presentation section will present seven films by leading directors, including Besson's "The Lady," Johnnie To's "Life Without Principle," Peter Chan's "Dragon" and Bong Joon-ho's "The Host 3D."
The "Window" section that offers a comprehensive look at contemporary films from Asia presents 49 films from 16 countries, including pictures from the next generation of Asian talent, such as Filipino helmer Adolfo Alix Jr.'s "Fable of the Fish," Chinese director Wang Chao's "Celestial Kingdom" and Japanese director Ishii Yuya's "Mitsuko Delivers."
In the New Currents category, 25 works by young and up-and-coming Asian filmmakers in 15 countries will be presented.
The Korean Cinema Retrospective section will present eight of the better-known films by the world-acclaimed Korean director Kim Ki-duk.
The World Cinema section, meanwhile, features 73 films of the well-known veteran filmmakers in 40 countries, including Jodie Foster's "The Beaver," Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," Gus Van Sant's "Restless" and Evan Glodell's "Bellflower" from the U.S.
The section also includes the latest pictures from leading European directors, such as Chantal Akerman, Aleksandr Sokurov, Lars von Trier, Mathieu Kassovitz, Nanni Moretti and Lynne Ramsay.
In the Retrospectives and Special Programs, seven films by Chinese filmmaker Yonfan, who is also the jury head of the New Currents section, will be showcased.
The festival will hold a special section on contemporary Australian cinema as this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Australia.
Organizers said they have put much emphasis on the diversity in international cinema, screening more works from Africa, Latin America and other regions, though its perennial focus on Asian films will remain intact.
"We invited leading films from Africa and Latin America, which can be hardly seen on usual days, to the festival, in order to make it more enjoyable," Busan Mayor Hur Nam-sik, also chief organizer of the BIFF, said in a news conference in Seoul on Thursday.
Launched in 1996, the annual festival has already developed into the largest of its kind in Asia.
Hur said this year's event, the 16th, marks the start of "a second leap" as it moves into the Busan Cinema Center, a new home with two movie theaters, an office building, a restaurant and a 4,000-seat outdoor performance hall.
This year's festival is set to be held at five theaters, including the Busan Cinema Center, in the southern port city of Busan on Oct. 6-14. The number of films that will be screened at the 16th BIFF is similar to past years, but the number of world premiers, 89 for this year, will be fewer than in the past.
Opening this year's festival will be "Always," a melodrama directed by South Korea's Cannes Jury Prize winner Song Il-gon. The film is about a retired boxer who falls in love with a woman slowly going blind.
The festival will close with Japanese director Masato Harada's "Chronicle of My Mother." Based on a work by Japanese writer Yasushi Inoue, the film is about a mother's unconditional love for her son.
The BIFF has 11 sections, including "Gala Presentation," "A Window on Asian Cinema" and "New Currents."
The Gala Presentation section will present seven films by leading directors, including Besson's "The Lady," Johnnie To's "Life Without Principle," Peter Chan's "Dragon" and Bong Joon-ho's "The Host 3D."
The "Window" section that offers a comprehensive look at contemporary films from Asia presents 49 films from 16 countries, including pictures from the next generation of Asian talent, such as Filipino helmer Adolfo Alix Jr.'s "Fable of the Fish," Chinese director Wang Chao's "Celestial Kingdom" and Japanese director Ishii Yuya's "Mitsuko Delivers."
In the New Currents category, 25 works by young and up-and-coming Asian filmmakers in 15 countries will be presented.
The Korean Cinema Retrospective section will present eight of the better-known films by the world-acclaimed Korean director Kim Ki-duk.
The World Cinema section, meanwhile, features 73 films of the well-known veteran filmmakers in 40 countries, including Jodie Foster's "The Beaver," Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," Gus Van Sant's "Restless" and Evan Glodell's "Bellflower" from the U.S.
The section also includes the latest pictures from leading European directors, such as Chantal Akerman, Aleksandr Sokurov, Lars von Trier, Mathieu Kassovitz, Nanni Moretti and Lynne Ramsay.
In the Retrospectives and Special Programs, seven films by Chinese filmmaker Yonfan, who is also the jury head of the New Currents section, will be showcased.
The festival will hold a special section on contemporary Australian cinema as this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Australia.
