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Press Release | 2021.09.08
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The 26th Busan International Film Festival Announces Nominees for
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The 26th Busan International Film Festival has unveiled 10 nominees for the BIFF Mecenat Award, which is granted to feature-length documentaries from Korea and Asia. 5 Korean documentaries and 5 documentaries from Asia have been nominated for the BIFF Mecenat Award. These films will be presented at BIFF this coming October as World Premieres.
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Introducing the Best Documentaries from Korea•Asia
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The place of discovery and support for emerging documentarists!
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Wide Angle is a section that has broadened the perspectives of the audience through challenging and experimental films. The 26th Busan International Film Festival selects and confers the BIFF Mecenat Award to 2 outstanding titles from the documentary competition section. This award discovers and supports emerging, competent documentarists.
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This year, the BIFF Mecenat Award nominees are more diverse than any other year in the past. From the personal stories of a farmer-dancer, the fandom of an idol star, and a film director who is an aspiring pianist to films that offer a historical analysis from a fresh perspective, such as the February 28 incident in Taiwan and the Bu-Ma Democratic Protests, the list of nominees is a full package of diverse and intriguing stories. It is also noteworthy to pay attention to the onrush of female documentary directors, which is a contemporary trend, as can be seen in the 4 titles directed by women among the 10 nominees for the BIFF Mecenat Award.
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The battle between the old and new in Korean documentary
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What stands out in the Korean documentaries nominated this year for the BIFF Mecenat Award is that young directors, who are presenting their first features, are competing on a level playing field with experienced directors, who have already made memorable documentary films.
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(Left) Kim Jong-boon of Wangshimni, (Right) 206: Unearthed
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The first title to pay attention to is Kim Jong-boon of Wangshimni (2021), directed by Kim Jin-yeoul, who has had a 20-year career in the film industry. Starting off her documentary filmmaking in 1999 with Handicapped Woman Kim Jin-ok′s Marriage Story (1999), Kim went on to direct Land, To Make Rice (2000), Forgotten Warriors (2005) and Cruel State (2015). The director’s newest release shines a warm light on the life of Kim Jong-boon, who has worked at her hole-in-the-wall shop for 50 years in Wangshimni, Seoul. The eighty years of Kim Jong-boon’s life, who is also the mother of the late independence activist, Kim Kuejeong, fiercely and beautifully unfolds.
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Heo Chul-nyung, who was in the spotlight for his films The Remanent People (2012) and The Whispering Trees (2017), volunteered in a project for his newest title, 206: Unearthed (2021), to excavate the remains of a genocide incident during the Korean War. The film was supported by the BIFF Asian Cinema Fund’s Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund in support of independent feature-length documentaries.
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(Left) Fanatic, (Right) Piano Prism
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Three directors, who have released their debut feature documentaries, await to come before the audience. Names of Revolution (2021), directed by Lee Dongyun, sheds new light on the Bu-Ma Democratic Protests. The memories of those who participated in the Bu-Ma Democratic Protest are vividly invoked with the aid of visual materials 40 years later.
Fanatic (2021), directed by Oh Seyeon, is inspired by the director’s personal experience as a fan of an idol star. This film dives deep into the criminality of the fandom culture.
Oh Jae-hyeong, who is an accomplished painter, director, and pianist, directed Piano Prism (2021), an extraordinary film that uniquely integrates piano performances with audiovisual special effects.
These three titles are expected to catch the audience’s attention with their fresh subject matter and creative approach to filmmaking.
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Documentaries from Chinese-speaking regions are emerging as increasingly strong contenders
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Amidst a surge of documentaries from Chinese-speaking regions that includes China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in the contemporary documentary scene, this trend is clearly reflected in the list of nominees for the BIFF Mecenat Award. The trend becomes even clearer when considering the films introduced in the Asian documentary showcase. Moreover, the documentaries from India and Japan, the traditional powerhouses of Asian cinema, must also be given considerable appreciation.
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Self-Portrait: Fairy Tale in 47KM
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(Left) Taste of Wild Tomato, (Right) Crossing’s End
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Self-Portrait: Fairy Tale in 47KM (2021), directed by the up-and-coming female director from China, Zhang Mengqi, is the 9th title in her “Self-Portrait Series.” The film affectionately documents the friendly and beautiful days in the director’s hometown.
Taste of Wild Tomato (2021), directed by Lau Kek-Huat, and Crossing’s End (2021), directed by Shih Yu-Lun, are documentaries from Taiwan. Lau Kek-Huat, who was born in Malaysia, but mainly works in Taiwan, won the Sonje Award at BIFF 2020 with Nia’s door (2015). He was invited again to the festival for his film Boluomi (2019), and has strong ties with BIFF. In Taste of Wild Tomato (2021), Lau presents a new take on the February 28 incident, which is one of the most traumatic incidents in the history of Taiwan. Crossing’s End (2021) captures the story of two innocent young men who served time in prison for murder for over a decade. By incorporating the story of the activist group that asked for a re-trial into the documentary, a stranger-than-fiction narrative unfolds. |
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(Left) Ladies Only, (Right) The Unnameable Dance
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Rebana Liz John, an artist and film director from Mumbai, India, presents the lively women she encounters on a Mumbai commuter train in her film, Ladies Only (2021). The film is a beautiful work that harmonizes the confident voices of women with poetic cinematography.
Lastly, The Unnameable Dance (2021) is a documentary directed by Inudo Isshin, who is known for Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2003) and La Maison de Himiko (2005). This film leads the audience to the wonderful artistic world of Tanaka Min, a veteran dancer whose performances are improvised, in accordance to the space he occupies.
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The 26th Busan International Film Festival Mecenat Award will select one documentary from Korea and one documentary from Asia among the titles invited to the Wide Angle competition section. The recipients will be awarded KRW 10,000,000 (approx. USD 9,000) each.
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The 10 selections for the Wide Angle documentary competitive sections can be viewed at the 26th Busan International Film Festival, which will be held for 10 days from October 6 (Wed) to October 15 (Fri).
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(*In alphabetical order of the titles)
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[Nominees for the BIFF Mecenat Award]
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