Domestic film industry woes are forgotten for one glamourous night
Written by Patrick Frater & Marcus Lim
PUSAN – There were fireworks over the Yachting Center on Thursday night as the 13th running of the Pusan Int'l Film Festival got underway in South Korea.
And as the "Habanera" from the opera "Carmen" rang out, for a few moments the troubles of the local industry were put to one side. Speaking at the massive outdoor arena, the still feisty festival topper Kim Dong-ho proclaimed Pusan the "cornerstone for enhancing the Korean and Asian film industries."
Had celebrations been more muted it would have been understandable – but that is scarcely the Pusan way and Koreans rarely do things quietly or on a small scale.
Traditionally regarded as the leading movie fest in Asia, Pusan's scale and self-importance this year stands in significant contrast to Korea's domestic film industry, which many regard as having fallen into crisis.
Production volume has slipped and profits evaporated as Korean auds – which for a few years as the Korean industry mushroomed cheerfully ignored world trends -- have turned increasingly to Hollywood movies.
Korean spectators continue to show up in impressive numbers for two or three local super-productions, but the cost of delivering these hits has grown disproportionately. And the number of smaller pics able to make stand out in the country's increasingly multiplex culture is few.
That has put several movie companies on very shaky foundations and exposed just how dependent on theatrical business alone Korean cinema has become. Secondary markets like TV and DVD contribute little. And peer-to-peer file sharing seems to have cornered the home entertainment market before legitimate online businesses or the soon to be launched IPTV services get a chance to develop.
Still, Korea and Pusan in particular seem set on remaining at the forefront of the Asian industry through a process of internationalization and cross-border co-operation. The beachfront Grand Hotel is literally wrapped in a multi-story banner proclaiming itself "the hub of Asian cinema."
The festival's opening film is an example of deliberate outreach. Helmed by little-known Kazakh director Rustem Abdrashev, "The Gift to Stalin," is a tough ethnographic history lesson set in the old Soviet era. But its child star, 9 year-old boy actor Dalen Shintemirov, warmed the hearts of the Yachting Center crowds as he ran up and down the red carpet and high-fived it with as many folk as he could.
Korea remains a cinematic success story within Asia – it boasts numerous helmers, cinematographers and scribes who are genuinely world class – and Pusan also has plenty of uplifting and inclusive things to offer.
Fest is hosting the second running of the Asia Pacific Actors Network, it is hosting an expanded series of Asian film fund presentations, plus a symposium on Asian film education. Its project market, the Pusan Promotion Plan, is top notch and more tightly focused this year, while the Asian Film Market remains modest, but has been given a useful facelift.
The int'l industry appears to be responding. European industry orgs have sent larger than ever delegations to Pusan and the number of foreign fest directors in attendance is worthy of Cannes.
In fact, emulating Cannes still seems to be on Pusan's agenda. Opening night boasted beautiful starlets, traffic jams and an outdoor theater holding several thousand spectators. Even before the fest got underway, swarms of teenage girls had clustered round the major hotels hoping for a glimpse of festival jury head Anna Karina, James Kyson Lee from NBC's "Heroes," and A-list Korean stars like Jang Dong-gun.
Source: Variety Asia, (Han Sunhee also contributed to this report.)
http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/7095/
Written by Patrick Frater & Marcus Lim
PUSAN – There were fireworks over the Yachting Center on Thursday night as the 13th running of the Pusan Int'l Film Festival got underway in South Korea.
And as the "Habanera" from the opera "Carmen" rang out, for a few moments the troubles of the local industry were put to one side. Speaking at the massive outdoor arena, the still feisty festival topper Kim Dong-ho proclaimed Pusan the "cornerstone for enhancing the Korean and Asian film industries."
Had celebrations been more muted it would have been understandable – but that is scarcely the Pusan way and Koreans rarely do things quietly or on a small scale.
Traditionally regarded as the leading movie fest in Asia, Pusan's scale and self-importance this year stands in significant contrast to Korea's domestic film industry, which many regard as having fallen into crisis.
Production volume has slipped and profits evaporated as Korean auds – which for a few years as the Korean industry mushroomed cheerfully ignored world trends -- have turned increasingly to Hollywood movies.
Korean spectators continue to show up in impressive numbers for two or three local super-productions, but the cost of delivering these hits has grown disproportionately. And the number of smaller pics able to make stand out in the country's increasingly multiplex culture is few.
That has put several movie companies on very shaky foundations and exposed just how dependent on theatrical business alone Korean cinema has become. Secondary markets like TV and DVD contribute little. And peer-to-peer file sharing seems to have cornered the home entertainment market before legitimate online businesses or the soon to be launched IPTV services get a chance to develop.
Still, Korea and Pusan in particular seem set on remaining at the forefront of the Asian industry through a process of internationalization and cross-border co-operation. The beachfront Grand Hotel is literally wrapped in a multi-story banner proclaiming itself "the hub of Asian cinema."
The festival's opening film is an example of deliberate outreach. Helmed by little-known Kazakh director Rustem Abdrashev, "The Gift to Stalin," is a tough ethnographic history lesson set in the old Soviet era. But its child star, 9 year-old boy actor Dalen Shintemirov, warmed the hearts of the Yachting Center crowds as he ran up and down the red carpet and high-fived it with as many folk as he could.
Korea remains a cinematic success story within Asia – it boasts numerous helmers, cinematographers and scribes who are genuinely world class – and Pusan also has plenty of uplifting and inclusive things to offer.
Fest is hosting the second running of the Asia Pacific Actors Network, it is hosting an expanded series of Asian film fund presentations, plus a symposium on Asian film education. Its project market, the Pusan Promotion Plan, is top notch and more tightly focused this year, while the Asian Film Market remains modest, but has been given a useful facelift.
The int'l industry appears to be responding. European industry orgs have sent larger than ever delegations to Pusan and the number of foreign fest directors in attendance is worthy of Cannes.
In fact, emulating Cannes still seems to be on Pusan's agenda. Opening night boasted beautiful starlets, traffic jams and an outdoor theater holding several thousand spectators. Even before the fest got underway, swarms of teenage girls had clustered round the major hotels hoping for a glimpse of festival jury head Anna Karina, James Kyson Lee from NBC's "Heroes," and A-list Korean stars like Jang Dong-gun.
Source: Variety Asia, (Han Sunhee also contributed to this report.)
http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/7095/
