Mayor target of anger at Busan film fest
BUSAN — The rain that began in the morning of the opening day must have been a concern for the organizers of this year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) especially as the opening ceremony took place at an open-air venue.
What was probably of a much greater concern, however,was the appearance of Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo on opening night.
Although star-studded and glitzy on the surface, the 22nd edition of BIFF has so far been marked by signs of division among organizers and protests by filmmakers eager to voice their anger at unresolved issues affecting what is considered to be Asia’s most important film event.
As the Busan Mayor strutted down the long red carpet, he was booed and heckled with shouts of “leave now” and “shame on you.” Although a handful of people in the audience reached out for a handshake, the sudden change from loud cheers to booing was all too audible.
Several filmmakers, including Min Byung-hun (“The Emperor”) walked the red carpet holding a protest slogan that read “You Should Leave” directed at Suh. Another director, Pang Eun-jin, held a picket sign “Apologize, Mayor Suh” at a BIFF event to promote her film “Method.”
Many others chose to continue their official boycott of BIFF, including members of the Directors Guild of Korea, the Cinematographers Guild of Korea and the Federation of Korea Movie Workers’ Unions.
BIFF woes began three editions ago. After fest organizers went ahead with the screening of an anti-government documentary in 2014, despite demands from Mayor Suh not to, targeted audits and drastic budget cuts ensued.
Then the prosecution and sentencing of festival director Lee Yong-kwan and deputy director Jay Jeon triggered the boycott by local filmmakers.
In May this year, while struggling to fill the gap left by Lee and Jeon, deputy director Kim Ji-seok suffered a fatal heart attack during a business trip to Cannes.
In August, 24 staff members, many in key positions, issued a public statement denouncing Kim Dong-ho, chairman of the festival organizing committee, and actress-turned-festival director Kang Soo-youn for being dictatorial and kowtowing to Mayor Suh.
The staff called for the return of BIFF’s former leadership and also criticized Kim and Kang for promoting Hong Hyo-sook, a programmer said to belong to Kim and Kang’s inner circle, to deputy director, citing “cases of violation of regulations” and “unethical behavior.”
Hong has since left the festival and closed her SNS accounts. A day after the publication of the open letter, Kim and Kang announced they would step down from their positions after this year’s event.
The names of the five BIFF programmers were conspicuous by their absence in the open letter, a fact that did not go unnoticed by local filmmakers. Sunhee Kim, producer of “The Truth Shall Not Sink With Sewol,” the anti-government film that was the start of BIFF’s troubled times, stated on her Facebook page that “the BIFF programmers also collaborated with the powers-that-be” and that she could not bring herself to forgive them.”
As well as a clear majority of local filmmakers and those running BIFF on a day-to-day basis, local students have joined forces to demand an apology from Mayor Suh.
“I BIFF, I Belief,” a student-led protest group of about 40 Busan students is staging daily protests outside the BIFF headquarters. The students are collecting signatures from passers-by and BIFF visitors that the students say they will take to Mayor Suh’s office. As of day two of BIFF, they had collected nearly 1,000 signatures.
“We found out that Kim Ji-seok died after his two colleagues had to leave due to Suh’s interventions,” said Lee Seung-ho, 19, a film student at Dong Seo University, who heads the group.
“Many of us will turn 20 next year so we can vote. We’ll show how we feel about this situation with our votes. Suh must apologize to the citizens of Busan and to everyone who loves BIFF for damaging it.”
A taxi driver said, “I’m so angry with Suh for ruining BIFF. Busan with BIFF was Asia’s Cannes, but thanks to Suh, we’ve become an international laughing stock. I feel ashamed.”
Asked which BIFF films he had enjoyed over the years, he says he has never been to one, but that he would do so after Suh’s term ended. The mayoral election is set for June 2018.
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival, which opened on Oct. 12, will close with Sylvia Chang’s “Murmur of the Hearts” on Oct 21.