부산국제영화제

I am introducing eight films from former socialist Eastern European countries at this year’s Busan International Film Festival. The first, Dear Comrades!, by renowned Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky, deals with a massacre that took place in Novocherkassk in 1962.

A reason a film feels more special to us in an era of media inundation could be due to the unimaginable amount of time and effort that goes into finishing it. Selected in the New Currents section at the 25th Busan International Film Festival, Money Has Four Legs is the first film to be invited from Myanmar.

For some, going to the movies may simply be a source of entertainment to kill time, but surely everyone has had a special experience going to the movies in childhood. Treading upon the soft carpet and holding parents’ hands, we would find our seats in the theater.

I am introducing Korean feature debut films in the Korean Cinema Today-Vision and New Currents sections. I have, however, written their detailed descriptions in the Program Notes, and today I would like to briefly list what I liked about each film. I hope this will lead to your greater enjoyment of the films.

The Asian regions I am in charge of this year are the Northeast Asian (excluding Korea), Central Asian, and South Asian countries. Both newcomers and acclaimed filmmakers have been busy making films in these Asian countries despite the film industry as a whole slowing down due to the impact of COVID-19. Thankfully, we have been able to show a considerable number of major films at Busan.

On Chuseok afternoon, I went to Haeundae Beach for a walk. Clouds were clear against the tall, blue sky. People were walking along the beach with their masks on, and on the sand were a group of boys playing soccer in their bathing suits. They were French boys who could not be more than sixteen or seventeen. As I watched the boys run around, I wondered how they came to Korea in these times. The sleek backs of the boys sparkled like fish under the autumn sun. At the end of the match, the boys disappeared, and I felt as if a short film ended without reaching its end. As I was pondering which films to introduce through this brief letter, I decided to focus on those that center on youth or have teenage protagonists.

Characters shown in documentaries often cause us anxiety. The pain and sorrows, the anger and frustration, and the rapture and success that they feel traverse the comfortable distance between the screen and the audience and overwhelm us. This is probably because, unlike fictional characters, documentary characters are real people who eat, sleep and breathe just like us. I am introducing some documentary characters at this year’s Busan International Film Festival who will fascinate, shock, bring tears to our eyes, and demand our attention.