Emi Wada to head PIFF jury

Wada Emi [PIFF Website]

The 15th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) has announced its selection of jurors including Academy Award-winning costume designer Wada Emi to head the New Currents section which recognizes emerging Asian directors.

Korean actress Kim Yoon-jin of the "Lost" series, Taiwanese actress Yang Kuei-mei, Indian director Murali Nair, and International Forum of New Cinema of Berlin Film Festival's Christoph Terechte have also been chosen as members of the jury for New Currents.

Meanwhile, the fest's Flash Forward section for non-Asian directors will be led by Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper while joined by German film scholar Thomas Elsaesser, Korean director Lee Kwang-mo, Russian directors Alex Popogrebsky, and Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic.

For the PIFF Mecenat Award in the Wide Angle competition, decisions will be made by HotDocs Documentary Film Festival programming director Sean Farnel, Media Act Director and Korean Visual Media Education Association Executive Kim Myungjun, and Cambodian director Rithy Panh.

The jury for the NetPac Award, given to the best film nominated amongst the New Currents and Korean Cinema Today-Vision categories, will be composed of the Philippines' Cinemalaya director Nestor Jardin, France's Vesoul Festival Director Martine Theoruanne, and Korea's Pusan National University professor Moon Kyuan Kyu.

Wada, who has been an active costume designer for over 50 year now, won her first Oscar Award for Kurosawa Akira's "Ran" in 1986, her second film project.

Jessica Kim jesskim@
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