Busan takeaways: Record crowd as Asian producers brace for political storm

The 31st edition of the Busan International Film Festival, which ran from Oct. 6 to 15, drew its biggest moviegoers in more than a decade, while a political storm over a Korean blockbuster and an Iranian director's bellicose speech kept politics in the spotlight. Here are Variety's take on the festival and its Asian content […]

The 31st edition drew its largest audience since 2015, while the conflict over "killer(s)" and Majid Majidi's war speech put politics in the spotlight.

These are Variety's impressions of the festival and its Asian Film and Content Market (ACFM).

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The screenings had 200,043 admissions, the festival's highest admission number since 2015. Counting talks, outdoor events and side programs, the total number of attendees reached 277,027, about 40,000 more than last year's 30-event run. Organizers hinted at a new opening date and a bigger screen. Popular in Variety

Community BIFF, an audience-programmed event in Nampo-dong, had 29,511 visitors, more than 1.7 times last year's figure. BIFF Everywhere took the films to 18 locations, including Buddhist temples, traditional markets and the National Assembly building in Seoul.

ACFM, which ran from October 10 to 13 at BEXCO under the theme "Core and Development", had 30,484 visitors, an increase of 1.6%. Registrations increased by 4.3 percent to 3,158 participants from 1,266 companies in 58 countries. Exhibitors rose 17 percent to 339 companies, 49 of them for the first time, and the Czech, Slovak and Cambodian booths had their debuts.

"The biggest obstacle is financing," said Ellen Y. Day, director of ACFM. Kim told Variety. "The scale and role of the market has grown rapidly, but public support has not kept pace. National funding for ACFM has remained at the same level for two consecutive years."

"For anyone who wants to work with Asia, there is no place as efficient as Four Days," he said.

Korbinian Haeutle, Project Manager for Europe! The Hub, which had a booth with EFP and Unifrance, said the quality of the market was very good. "The meetings are good and it seems like a lot of new distribution companies are emerging. Everyone is very happy," he said.

Malaysian filmmakers Wu Ming Jin, director of Greenlight Pictures, and Lau Kok Rui, director and screenwriter of Thousand Sellers, say BIFF brings everyone from Asia together, "so it's a very important festival for us."

"You can count on everyone being here, discussing policy changes, sharing project updates... It's good to see what people are doing. It's motivating," they said.

The festival's opening week was overshadowed by Hor Jin-ho's thriller about the August 15, 1974 shooting of First Lady Yok Yong-soo, wife of then-president Park Chung-hye. The film was released on September 23 and topped Korea's box office, but conservative politicians and online critics accused it of distorting history.

On October 1, BIFF canceled "Actor's House: Lee Min Ho", a professional interview with one of the stars of the film. A day later, the production company Hive Media Corp. Citing the safety of the audience and participants, he withdrew actors and crew from all appearances at the festival, including the opening ceremony and outdoor welcome. The move came after a conservative group announced that daily protests would be held outside the home of lead actor Yoo Hae Jin.

The row reached the press conference of the competition jury a day after the opening ceremony, where a reporter raised the question of historical fact and creative freedom. Jury president Zhang Yimou said, “Especially about the movie you mentioned, I haven't seen it, although I understand there are discussions. It depends on the feelings of each person. "Historical Creation and Truth: What Does Historical Truth Really Mean? History is also written by people, so is history itself really true? Sometimes that itself is a question mark."

"But as creators, we respect every creator's point of view," he added.

"What I feel now, even though it's not my film, is that my heart as a filmmaker is very cold," said Juli Yeung, director of "The Next Suhi" and "Dora," a member of the jury.

Later in the festival, about 20 filmmakers, including directors Chung Ji-yong and Lee Myung-se, held a press conference in Busan, calling on politicians to stop using the film as a political weapon and leave the judgment to the audience. They also criticized the main opposition People's Power party, whose 109 lawmakers had sent a letter to the Singapore International Film Festival asking it to withdraw the film. Singapore has retained "The Killer(s)" as its Oct. 21 opening title.

Politics returned at the closing ceremony. Majidi's "Ghaza Zohr", the story of a rural school teacher, won the Busan Award for Best Film from the Zhang Jury. After Zhang presented him with the trophy, Majidi spoke out against the war in Iran, focusing on the February US military strike on a school in Minab that killed 156 civilians, including 120 students. He presented this award to the people of Iran.

Majidi said: They will stand firm until the end and fight to restore independence.

He added: "I wish for a future without war."

This was Busan's first edition since FIAPF recognized it as an A-list festival, and its second year of competition, which featured 13 Asian titles. The win means "Lunch" can go straight into the international Oscar race without a national selection.

Eddie Kahyuno's Indonesian drama "Ibuku" won the Special Jury Prize, while Lee Yun-chan won Best Director for Taiwan's "Normalness." The best actor was won by Zhou Xun for Gu Yu's "The First Taste of Loneliness" and Himeno Kashun for "Always Satoko". Li Danfeng, sound director of "The First Taste of Loneliness," received the Artistic Contribution Award. Zhang's panel of judges also included Bi Gan, Juli Yong, Mon Choi, Samal Yesliamwa, Ishikawa K and Tran Thi Bich Ngoc.

The guest list matched the new status Michelle Yeoh, who returned to the Busan red carpet after a 15-year absence, was named Asian Filmmaker of the Year at the opening ceremony hosted by Kim Min, where An Hui received the Camellia Award. The former chairman of the festival, Kim Dong-ho, was honored with the Korean Cinema Award. Fan Bingbing and Charlotte Gainsbourg also walked the opening night carpet with Alfonso Cuarón and made their first official visit to Korea.

Isabelle Huppert brought "All About Corinne," Maggie Gyllenhaal visited Korea for the first time, and Koreda Hirokazu presented "Look Back." Lee Chang-dong entered Netflix with the drama "Possible Love" starring Jeon Do-yeon, Sol Kyung-goo, Joo In-sung, and Cho Yeo-jung. Na Hong-jin, Kim Ji-won, Im Kwon-tak, Lee Myung-se, Bae Chang-ho, Fukada Koji, Lau Diaz, Rintaro, Reza Rahadian and Christian Hakeem were also in town, as well as Zhu Jun, Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung, Son Jung-Kumin, Son Jung-Kumin and Japan. Shunsuke

Fan, Kim Ji-won, and Hong Kyung-pyo handled the carte blanche selections, while the house sessions featured actors Kim Go-yeon, Kim Min-ha, Ryu Seung-ryung, Shin Min-ah, and Jo Ji-hoon. Ginsburg, Gyllenhaal, Cuarón, Na, Diaz and Rintaro led master classes and lectures.

Producers close ranks, money gets creative

At the manufacturing center, the Korean Manufacturers Association (PGK) and the Indonesian Manufacturers Association APROFI formed the Asian Manufacturers Alliance, and manufacturer members from the Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong also signed on. The founders see it as the seed of a coalition of Asian manufacturers that work together on joint production and policy. PGK also signed cooperation agreements with CNA Italy and Sakha Filmmakers Union.

"Co-production used to be an option," said Kim, the market director. It is now an essential risk sharing strategy.

New capital was also on the table. Korean content investor Solaire Partners and Japanese entertainment investor Questry signed a memorandum of understanding on Oct. 12 to launch a KRW 100 billion ($74.6 million) Korea-Japan content fund. The New Market Investor Summit brought together 20 companies, including Korean investor-distributors, venture capital firms and investors from Indonesia, Singapore, the United States and France, for a closed-door roundtable. Launched with Innocean and PGK and sponsored by Hanwha, Cinema by Brand brought together three brand-backed cinema projects.

Financing individual films is still difficult. Hollywood executives on a panel including UTA, Gold House, Lionsgate and HYBE saw an opportunity for Asian talent and stories rooted in specific cultures, while acknowledging that funding projects is still a problem.

Kevin Law, a market consultant at Film Export U.K. and a sales representative, said Busan is a consistent market for maintaining relationships and building partnerships. "I think one thing that's clear this year is that it's tough for independent films," he said.

Li-yan Fan, international sales representative at France's Ecce Films, made his first trip to Busan in search of co-production partners. "Co-production is becoming inevitable, but it still depends on the nature of each project and the resources available where you're shooting," Fann told Variety.

At Creative Asia, Netflix and BIFF's program for emerging talent, Netflix has already put AI in some form on about 300 of its titles, said Lee Sung-kyu, chief production officer for APAC, at Creative Asia. At the same panel, co-hosted by Netflix and MPA, "The Outlaws" director Kang Yoon-sung put the potential savings of AI on a feature between 30 and 40 percent of the budget.

Kang co-directed "To the West," which was the first Korean film to use artificial intelligence during production, piloting "Gulf of Aden," a film centered around military operations at sea that was created entirely with AI using Kling. He said that the saving of that film was not achieved only by changing the CJ. "Filming itself became easier and reduced the overall production period quite a bit," he said.

He also said that the technology often cuts off the discussion and shared experience that filmmaking relies on. "So the quality of movies that AI makes is very high, but when it comes to delivering emotion and provoking the audience, I think we're in an era where it's actually gotten worse," Kang says.

Lee said that when it comes to conveying feelings, one must ultimately touch the work once more. "I absolutely agree that the human touch is absolutely necessary," he said.

On the market floor, InnoAsia introduced ACFM Technology, Kling, Alibaba and BytePlus. Kling collaborated with filmmakers including Korean director Kim Seong-soo to show how AI can change filmmaking, and Forum BIFF screened a short AI by Jia Zhangke. VFX veteran Hong Jae-cheol told the AI Creators Camp how AI-generated visuals sit alongside regular effects on production lines, with people still driving the creative work.

"Compared to FilMart, microdramas aren't as big as you'd expect. Neither is AI. In Hong Kong they were everywhere," Haeutle said.

Artificial intelligence is still very much a debate, Lau said. "You'll find AI in movies now, but not as much as people think," he said.