A film festival is like a person: capable of making people laugh, it can also be neglected, rising and falling with the joys and sorrows of life. Nurtured with love from an early age, it prospers. So it is with the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), which marks its 12th birthday in the southern port city also spelled Busan this year. The 12th PIFF, now the leading Asian film festival, is held at Haeundae Beach and Nampo-dong in Busan from Oct. 4 to 12. The 275 films from 64 countries to be shown focus on several multiple aspects of our lives, from personal growth to alienation and family love.
Growth - "Somewhere Over Here" (Korea) directed by Lee Seung-young, 2007
The director's first feature film draws on his own experiences. In it, the heroine dreams of becoming a musician as she wanders around Hongik University. The vicissitudes of her life are depicted frankly in the movie. Lee also won acclaim for his previous film "I'm Not That Kind of Person".
Pain - "Ezra" (Nigeria) directed by Newton Aduaka, 2007
The Nigerian film industry is in the spotlight following Hollywood and India's Bollywood. This, the latest film by leading director Newton Aduaka, tells the story of a young man named Ezra who becomes involved in the civil war in Sierra Leone against his will.
Alienation - 'Desert Dream' (Korea) directed by Lu Zhang, 2006
This is a film about a man guarding a plain in Mongolia and a widow who escaped from North Korea. Hopelessness weighs heavily on the heroes in the dry plain. This film was shown in competition at the Berlin Film Festival this year.
Agony - "Foster Child" (Philippines) directed by Brillante Mendoza, 2007
The hero and his family live in a slum, where they take care of discarded children until they are adopted. The movie depicts one day in the hero's family to show the gulf between rich and poor and the social problems there. The film makes the gloomy atmosphere of a narrow slum street palpable with handheld camera and long takes.
Joy and sorrow - "A Sectional Chief Of The Third Class" (Korea) directed by Lee Bong-rae, 1961
The late actor Kim Seung-ho plays a typical head of a family from the 1960s who worries after his boss' embarrassing request to open a dancing school for the boss' mistress. In the end he fulfills the boss' request and gets promoted. A realistic depiction of the Korean petit bourgeoisie of the era.
Love - "Closed Note" (Japan) directed by Isao Yukisada, 2007
The heroine finds a diary in a house she moves to. Fascinated by the stories in the diary, she decides to confess her love to the man she has loved for a long time. Japanese teen idols Erika Sawajiri and Yusuke Iseya star. Director Isao Yukisada also made "Crying Out Love in The Center of The World".
Family love - "The Friends" (Korea) directed by Lee Young-jae, 2007
Three children observe an old man who is told he will die soon, and a friendship springs up between them. The children introduce the man to an elderly woman and share their feelings. The director won recognition with "The Harmonium in My Memory" in 1999.
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