The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) will continue its progress with 275 films and a record number of 193 premieres and the inauguration of new programs. PIFF's flagship New Currents competition boasts a complete selection of eleven world and international premieres. The 12th edition of Asia's major international film festival will run from October 4 until the 12th.
New Currents showcases low-budget independent films of emerging talented filmmakers. The Korean innovative competitors in New Currents are Yoon Seong-ho's "Milky Way Liberation Front" and "My Song Is... " by Ahn Seul-gi. The Chinese-Korean co-production "Life Track" (director Guang Hao Jin) is another contender.
PIFF complemented its program with the new sections Gala Presentation and Flash Forward. Gala Presentation focuses on films of "master cineastes" or world/international premieres. It will be an extensive program with several related events, including press conferences. The presence of visual audacious director Lee Myeong-se with "M" and master filmmaker Im Kwon-taek's "Beyond the Years" - along with 881 by Royston Tan and Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon - promises a strong inauguration.
Flash Forward shares the same spirit with New Currents. The new section could be a look into the future of cinema by highlighting unique films of young upcoming filmmakers like Korean-American Michael Kang's "West 32nd". PIFF classifies all the films in Flash Forward as controversial which will question ideas about cinema.
Korean Cinema Retrospective consists of the two sections. One is titled Kim Seung-ho: Face of a Father, Portrait of Korean Cinema. KIM was an influential and famous actor in the 50s. The Creating New Culture: Special Presentation of Korean National Asset Films will screen the seven films that were announced 'National Assets' by the Cultural Heritage Administration.
More influential Korean directors including Lee Chang-dong ("Secret Sunshine") and Kim Ki-duk ("Breath") are part of the festival in the Korean Cinema Today section. PIFF also includes the world or international premieres of Miike Takashi's Crows: Episode 0, Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon, Feng Xiaogang's Assembly (opening film), and the closing film the Japanese animation Evangelion 1.0: You are (Not) Alone. Assembly is a Chinese-Korean co-production with the Korean MK Pictures involved, and the special effects team of "Taegukgi" was aboard to design the war scenes.
Korean stars Ahn Seong-gi, Kang Soo-yeon and Park Joong-hoon will host the launch of the Asia Pacific Actors Network (APAN). This network aims to bring Asian actors closer.
This year's PIFF will include special programs featuring filmmaker Edward Yang, Malaysian cinema and director Dariush Mehrjui. In addition, the festival in cooperation with the Korean Film Archive will inaugurate the Busan Asian Film Archive. The archive is meant to become an extensive collection of outstanding films, and it commences this year with 80 films.
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