There were many ‘new' features this year at Asia's top movie fiesta - the Busan International Film Festival, South Korea. For starters, it had a subtle change in name, reverting to the old ‘Busan' instead of ‘Pusan' that it had for 15 years.It had a new Artistic Director, with Lee Yong-kwan taking over from Kim Dong-ho, who had masterminded the festival for 15 successful years. It also had a brilliant new venue, the $136 million Busan Film Centre, which took more than three years to complete.
The 30,000 sq ft Centre, designed like the undulating waves that the beautiful beach town of Busan is noted for, is studded with four theatres, cinematheque, offices, theatres and function rooms. Last but not the least, is the gigantic open-air theatre with an LED-roof that can house as many as 5,000 people. The grand opening and closing ceremonies were held here, attended by a huge audience that braved heavy rain, to be present at the event.
The involvement of the youth was one of the highlights. The $10 million festival had nearly 700 young volunteers, not to mention a staff of 200, who are recruited every year, apart from the permanent staff. The latter included the new Artistic Director, who gained valuable experience while working for more than a decade with his globally- renowned predecessor, which was why he could smoothly organise the brilliant festival this year.
Arresting features
There were 300 films from 70 countries, apart from other arresting aspects such as the Asian Film Academy, Asian Project Market, Asia Cinema Fund (formerly called the Pusan Promotion Plan) and Asian Film Market (with a 30 per cent increased participation). Among the mentors at the Asian Film Academy this year were famous Polish Director Krzysztof Zanussi, and noted Indian filmmaker Murali Nair.
Nair, who's currently working on a new film project in the rural areas of India, urged women to take up film making (“They are creative, hard working, and the back-bone of every home”) and said that it was a heartening experience to interact with the talented youth of Asia.
These included two young filmmakers from India, who were among the 24 selected from more than 144 applications for the Asian Film Academy this year.
Among the seven noteworthy Asian filmmakers at the Asian Project Market was Ritesh Menon, with his new film, ‘My Ancestral Home,' which he said was based on the old tales told by his grandmother.
A new addition this year was the Busan Cinema Forum, an international academic conference that was addressed by famed Asian directors such as Hong Sang Soo from Korea and Apichatpong Weerasethakul from Thailand. Director Lee Yong-kwan said that the Forum added an important ‘academic' emphasis to the festival.
Well-known Hong Kong Director Tsui Hark, who has attempted films with a dazzling range of genres, was presented the ‘Asian Film Maker of the Year' award.
Like the French actor Juliette Binoche last year, who set the festival on fire, this time it was French actor Isabella Huppert, who left her hand-print at Busan.
The much awarded actor stated that the “new things” in cinema today, all came from Asia.
French director Luc Besson presented his film, ‘The Lady', a biopic on Burmese freedom fighter Aung Sang Suu Kyi, starring Michelle Yeoh, who was also present at Busan.
It was easily the most talked about film, with very few remaining dry-eyed at the end of a stunning portrait of the personal and political travails of one of the most famous Asian women of our time.
Michelle Yeoh said that she shed 17 pounds and learnt to speak Burmese for one of the most demanding roles of her career. It turned out to be one of her most outstanding performances, as she deeply ‘humanised' a personality who has been so deified. Equally remarkable is the performance of actor David Thewlis, who plays Aung Sang Suu Kyi's husband, Dr Michael Aris, – an amazing casting coup.
Luc Besson is more noted for his action-packed films than emotional dramas, which is why ‘The Lady' is a remarkable achievement. The Director will present his work at IFFI Goa, where the film will mark the end of the event.
Among the films that won top awards in the ‘New Currents' section (first or second films of directors) this year, were ‘Mourning' from Iran and ‘Nino' from Philippines, two diverse films by two different directors.
‘Mourning' is a moving, emotional tale of a hearing and speech impaired couple, which tries to ‘communicate' with their nephew, whose parents have been killed.
‘Nino' (which won many awards at the Cinemalaya festival in Manila) is about a family eaten by greed, where music is a camouflage for their motives. There's a strong chance that both films will be screened at the International Film Festival of India,.Goa.
Another award winner was the Korean animation film, ‘King of the Pigs,' an arresting feature debut by Yeung Sang-ho. It's a tale about social prejudices among the youth that shocks by its cruelty and violence; it was also much talked about.
Moving tale
The film that won the Audience Prize was ‘Dekh Indian Circus' by Mangesh Hadawale (who had made the much-lauded Marathi film ‘Tingya' in 2007). It is a moving tale of a poor family's efforts to take their kids to the circus, against a background of cheating politicians who victimise them. As Screen International said, “It's a simple story well told, which will appeal to a broad audience.”
The big production team which attended the festival included actor Vivek Oberoi, who said, “It has a great script, story, performances and we are all so delighted!”
The Short Film Prize went to a student of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Venkat Amudham, for ‘Thug Beram,' which offers a unique perspective of a young boy watching an action-packed scene.
Another winner from India was director Shivaji Chandrabushan (whose first film ‘Frozen' won laurels at many international festivals). He won a grant for post-production, for his new film ‘One More.' It is about an amateur ice hockey team in Ladakh.
Other Indian films that featured in the ‘Window on Asian Cinema' section were ‘Temple' by Umesh Kulkarni, ‘Urumi,' by Santosh Sivan, ‘The Address' by Madhav Ramadasan, ‘Alms for a Blind Horse' by Gurvinder Singh, ‘Stanley's Tiffin Box' by Amole Gupte and ‘Gurzaarish' by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Festival Director Lee Yong-kwan stated that they were interested in all genres of cinema in the Asian region. “The whole aim of the Busan film festival… is to actively propagate the cinema of Asia,” he stated.
