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Filmmakers, Actors Threaten to Boycott PiFan

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

The organizing committee of one of the major domestic film festivals on Thursday decided to dismiss its festival director despite strong opposition from the event's programmers and threats from members of the film industry to boycott next year's event.

The committee of Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) came to its decision to replace director Kim Hong-joon after a meeting on Thursday evening at Puchon City Hall. The reason given was that since Kim was recently elected as director of School of Film, TV and Multimedia at the Korean National University of Arts, he may neglect his responsibilities toward the film festival if he were to hold both positions.

However, some staff members and programmers of PiFan opposed to Kim's dismissal believe the decision was made for other reasons, including the Puchon mayor's disapproval of Kim.

Earlier in the day, 11 directors and 28 actors, including directors Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho and actors Choi Min-sik, Lee Young-ae and Sol Kyung-gu, told reporters they will boycott the Puchon festival this year unless the organizing committee of PiFan changes their decision.

At Thursday's meeting, the committee also selected its new festival director, Chung Hong-taek.

Since its inception in 1997, PiFan has gradually expended its scope and scale, attracting maniacal fans who are drawn to unusual and bizarre movies. The annual event is held in Puchon, Kyonggi Province, during July.

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