Busan Festival to open with Shin Su-won’s ‘Glass Garden’
SEOUL: Glass Garden, by Korean director Shin Su-won will open the 22nd edition of the Busan Film Festival, Asia’s largest film festival.
Love Education, by multifaceted Taiwanese Sylvia Chang (Murmur of the Hearts) will close the festival, which runs from Oct 12-21.
The line-up announcement at two events, the first in Busan, the second, later in the day in Seoul, was the first official occasion jointly attended by festival director Kang Soo-youn and chairman Kim Dong-ho since they announced their planned resignation.
“I have managed to revise the regulation and host the festival’s latest edition normally, my work is done,” said Kim in Seoul. But he said he was unhappy with the pressure that has been heaped on Kang, who has been accused of being dogmatic and communicating poorly. “I cannot understand why Ms Kang, who has led the festival well under adverse conditions, has to resign.”
“It is normal for the director to take full responsibility,” said Kang. “We still have ongoing issues, such as the film industry boycott — three organisations, including the director’s guild, have not yet lifted their boycott. I don’t think the situation will change dramatically in a short time. But I believe that there shouldn’t be any more doubts whether the BIFF will still go on. I will stay until this year’s edition wraps up.”
The line-up includes 298 films from 75 countries, and includes 100 world premieres and 29 international premieres. And one or two more titles may still be added.
Glass Garden is a story of an oddball bioenergetics researcher who studies artificial blood, and a mysterious novelist writing about her. Love Education metaphorically depicts China’s modern history through the lives of three women of three different generations.
The festival’s operating budget is bigger than for the previous edition. “Fortunately, we have managed to add US$424,000 to last year’s budget. Although the number of sponsors has decreased, the sum the same as last year. We secured some funding from philanthropic foundations and also from the city council,” said Kang.