Kim Seung-ho (김승호)

2007 PIFF goes 'Beyond Frame'

2007/10/03 | Source | Permalink |

The 12th Pusan International Film Festival will kick off tomorrow in the southeastern port city, featuring 274 films from 64 countries with its focus placed on rediscovering and promoting Asian cinema.

"PIFF is widely regarded as Asia's most important film festival, and I personally feel the impact on a daily basis", festival director Kim Dong-ho told The Korea Herald in an interview on Monday.

Kim, who spearheaded PIFF from the beginning, is credited with propelling the fledgling festival into a premier event where innovative Asian films are screened, appraised and marketed to the global film market. Kim puts forwards director Lee Chang-dong's "Peppermint Candy" as an example of the festival's influence. Featured as the opening film for the PIFF in 1999, the film gained wide recognition among major film critics, distributors and production officials. The exposure at the festival later brought international acclaim to director Lee and his thought-provoking tale.

Kim finds hims...| More

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Human Emotions at This Year's PIFF

2007/09/28 | Source | Permalink |

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" (N...| More

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This year's PIFF to feature record 274 films

2007/09/13 | Source | Permalink |

The 12th Busan International Film Festival will kick off on Oct. 4, featuring a record 274 films from 64 countries, along with gala events in the southeastern port city that is now solidifying its position as the hub of Asian cinema.

"This year, PIFF will focus on helping Asian films play a bigger role in the world market, while promoting exchanges that go beyond continents", festival director Kim Dong-ho said at a news conference held last week.

The theme of the festival this year is "Beyond Frame", symbolizing the importance of breaking down barriers that divide people within the world's film industry. PIFF has emerged as a major film festival in Asia, where innovative regional films are introduced to moviegoers, film critics, journalists and distributors.

Reflecting the elevated stature of the festival, the number of world premieres (the first-ever screening of a film) is 66, and international premieres (formal introduction outside of the home countries) are numbered at 26....| More

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Pusan International Film Festival to Kick Off in Early October

2007/09/10 | Source | Permalink |

This year's Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) will feature 275 films from 64 nations, including 66 world premieres, 26 international premieres, and 101 Asian premieres. Now in its 12th year, PIFF will take place in Busan, Korea Oct.4-12.

The festival will open with an epic Chinese war film, "Assembly", co-produced by China's Huayi Brothers and South Korea's MK Pictures, and will end with a Japanese anime, "Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone", by Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, and Kazuya Tsurumaki.

In addition to the existing award categories, "Gala Presentation" will include global masterpieces and world premieres, and "Flash Forward" will introduces promising new film makers.

Prominent film directors, including Hou Hsiao-hsien of Taiwan, and famous actors and actresses from around the world will visit Pusan during PIFF.

Various additional programs such as a retrospective film about classic Korean actor Kim Seung-ho and an exhibit on the late Taiwanese director Edward Yang...| More

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PIFF's Promising Line-up Sets Records

2007/09/04 | Source | Permalink |

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 JIN Guang-hao) 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 audaciou...| More

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