12th PIFF Wraps with Awards

The 12th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) came to a close October 12 th after a 9 day run that drew a record-breaking attendance. An official tally of 198,603 admissions were taken during the event, up nearly 6000 from last year, while overall occupancy for screenings reached 75.8%. Both opening and closing films were sold out, with PIFF a total of 271 films from 65 countries.

Winners in the festival's only competitive section, New Currents, were announced at an award ceremony with 3 films sharing the honor, each winning US$30 000. Korean-Chinese director Jin Guang-hao won for his feature debut, the KOFIC-supported "Life Track" . Malaysian director Seng Tat LIEW won for his first feature "Flower in the Pocket", and Aditya ASSARAT of Thailand was awarded for his sophomore effort "Wonderful Town" . "Flower in the Pocket" also snagged the audience award, while the FIPRESCI award went to "The Red Awn" by CAI Shangjun of China.

JIN's "Life Track" is an unpretentious and stirring tale of a man who, having lost both his arms, lives alone in the mountains until he meets and finds comfort in a mute woman who has run away and seeks shelter. The film was the recipient of grant funding from KOFIC's Overseas Korean support program along with post-production funding from PIFF"s Asian Cinema Fund. It was produced by GOH Young-jae and Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu, who won PIFF's New Currents prize in the previous year for "Grain in Ear" .

Notable Korean independent films "A Girl of Black Soil" by Jeon Soo-il ( "Time Between Wolf and Dog" , 2006) and "Hello, Stranger" by Kim Dong-hyun ( "A Shark" , 2005) both won PIFF's NETPAC award. The latter was recipient of post-production support from PIFF's Asian Cinema Fund.

Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)