It’s no exaggeration to say that Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has been through a fair amount of drama this year. The turmoil started in May when BIFF chairman Lee Yong-kwa…
Busan International Film Festival
Fortunately, the festival has a strong layer of middle management with many years experience. When the top brass departed, the BIFF board appointed program director Nam Dong-chul and deputy director Kang Seung-ah as acting festival director and managing director, respectively, to get this year’s festival over the line.
He adds, however, that the management turmoil spooked some of the festival’s sponsors, meaning it faces a shortfall of around $820,000 from an initial budget of $9M . To mitigate this, the festival cut down its programme from last year’s 243 films to 209 this year, and dropped its annual film conference, although more industry-leaning seminars will take place during ACFM.
As usual, BIFF is also screening a broad array of European and other world cinema through sections including the Galas, Icons, World Cinema, Open Cinema and the Flash Forward competition. And despite its recent issues, the festival also continues to train the Asian filmmakers of the future through the BIFF Asian Film Academy, which this year has Japanese director Suwa Nobuhiro as dean.
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