A cloud of financial uncertainty hung over filmmakers gathered this week for Asia s largest film festival, but by the time the curtain came down most were looking ahead with optimism.
The industry is going through difficult times, said Kim Dong-Ho, director of the 13th Pusan International Film Festival, as it closed on Friday.
We wanted to provide it with a helping hand and we think we have done that.
Festival organizers pointed to record admissions as a sign there was still demand for quality films, as nearly 200,000 people attended the nine-day festival in this port city with an overall occupancy rate of 72.3 percent.
And to the fact that 16 films screened this year had been funded by the festival s Asian Cinema Fund as an indication that, given encouragement, filmmakers could still come up with quality productions.
The festival opened with 315 films on the program, 85 of them world premieres. But screenings are just part of the picture in Busan.
The Asian Film Market held concurrently over three days of the festival has in recent years prided itself on being Asia s largest. Industry insiders, however, said business was slow this year and that many guests had decided to leave early.
The feeling this year seemed to be that a lot of people were setting up deals they plan to sign at the American Film Market (in Santa Monica in November), said US-based producer Roger Garcia.
There seemed to be a lot of talking but not much action. Perhaps it was the general gloomy financial atmosphere around the world but people were just not hanging around like they used to.
While production numbers are down across Asia – in Korea just 30 local films are expected to be released this year compared with 112 in 2007 – the bullishness of the younger generation of Asian filmmakers was a positive sign.
Things are tough all over Asia, said Indian director Nandita Das whose Firaaq, based on ethnic tensions in her homeland, was one of the festival s surprises.
But if you have a quality product you can still find people to invest. To me that is a positive sign. And there is still money around for independent production. You just have to work a little harder to find it, said Das.
Second-time Korean filmmaker Roh Gyung-Tae, whose Land of Scarecrows was joint winner of the festival s main New Currents Award, said while domestic fortunes were flagging, there was still enough talent in Asia to support the industry.
I think if you are passionate about what you do, you can always find support, he said.
Kim said he was particularly pleased with the reaction to this year s focus on films from Kazakhstan and unknown films from the region.
PIFF opened on October 2 with the screening of Kazak director Rustem Abdrashev s The Gift to Stalin and also featured films from non-traditional Asian markets such as Uzbekistan and Jordan.
For veteran Kazak actor Nurzhuman Ikhtymbaev, who stars in The Gift to Stalin as well
Turmoil which also screened at the festival, the program reflected the diversity in Asia.
Every country has to face Hollywood in the fight for an audience, he said.
But if we continue to make individual films, we will always have our place and find our audience.
Among the highlights of this year s festival was the mixture of blockbusters and more art-house fare found in the A Window on Asian Cinema section.
Along with Das s more politically-inclined Firaaq, Japanese director Isshin Inudou s Goo Goo the Cat showed in its tale of a broken-hearted woman that Asian filmmakers can still mix it with the best when it comes to pure entertainment.
And there were a few traditional Asian oddities as well, none more so than the animated feature The Story of Mr Sorrow made by Korean Academy of Film Arts students which follow the demise of an ear-cleaner who is shrunk and then can see the secrets his clients keep inside their heads while he goes about his work.
Kim brought the festival to a close at the city s yachting center with a packed screening of I Am
Happy directed by compatriot Yoon Jong-Chan and starring local box office heavyweights Hyun Bin and Lee Bo-Young.
Times are hard for everyone one in the industry but we are staying positive, he said.
Our goal for next year is to encourage even stronger networking among Asia s film communities. -AFP
