Seoul (Yonhap) _ Organizers of the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) said Tuesday they will start a film academy for Asia's promising cinematic students as part of a catalogue of events marking the 10th anniversary of the festival this fall.
Twenty-eight students will be chosen annually ahead of the film festival period and granted 21 days of complementary movie classes in Seoul and Busan, they said.
Asian directors who have already gained world renown and four promising directors from South Korea and other Asian countries will participate in the Asia Film Academy as both principal and lecturers, the PIFF organizing committee said.
Participants will get the chance to work together in making two short films for screening at the festival, they said.
In addition, four students will have be given the opportunity to take a Korean language course and movie-making classes for one and half years, the organizers said.
The PIFF organizing committee signed a contract with the state-aided Korean Academy of Film Arts in Seoul and Dongseo University in Pusan to open the film academy.
This year's festival will take place in the nation's largest port city of Busan from Oct. 6-14.
More than 320 films will be screened during the 10th festival, according to the promoters. Among them are 30 works by Asia's top directors and 20 or more films on the theme of the traditional culture of member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the organizers said.
Pusan is also the venue for the 2005 APEC Summit on Nov. 18-19. Leaders and ministers of 21 member countries are set to attend the meeting.
The PIFF organizing committee also said it will increase the number of screens from the current 17 to 33 to be able to simultaneously house 300,000 viewers.
The world's leading figures from the movie industry will be invited to an international academic symposium designed to shed new light on the growing South Korean film industry, they added.
"We're undergoing unofficial talks with North Korea to screen North Korean films like `Manchu' by director Lee Nam-hi, who died in 1975", Kim Dong-ho, the festival's director, said.
"Directors of the world's three largest film festivals and a considerable number of the world's giant directors will take part in this year's festival as it celebrates its 10th anniversary".
Launched in 1996, the annual festival has developed into Asia's largest film festival, showcasing 262 movies from 63 countries last year.
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