My very slight favored status as a reliable press participant at the Busan International Film Festival—I’ve attended every edition since 2001, except for two years during the pandemic—has not been recognized this year. No free accommodations, no advance ticket bookings, no invitation to the Opening Ceremony. Someone in the know suggested it was a budget thing, since the present administration cut government funding for the festival, but I think my name just got dropped somewhere over the course of the year. The people I usually deal with in the press office don’t seem to be working for the festival any more. In any case, I’m staying at a “guest house” whose only merits are that it’s a block from the subway station and serves breakfast, though you have to fix your own eggs. 

Since I didn’t have an invitation to the opening ceremony I watched it via a streaming service, which is actually a better way to appreciate it. When I attended in person I usually had a bad seat and couldn’t really see anything—not that there’s really anything to see. The endless parade of celebrities and film people gets pretty repetitious, and the remarks are scripted, except for Portuguese director Miguel Gomes’, whose entire filmography is being showcased this year. He gave a short, sweet, improvised speech in which he invited anyone who sees him wandering around the festival to come up and chat. “I speak English, French, Portuguese, and a little Spanish.” Good to know. 

The theme this year is “Vision of Asia: Ocean of Cinema,” which adheres to the ongoing marine vibe the festival tries to maintain, since the sea is so close. And while BIFF has always prided itself on being the premiere Asian film festival, this year it seems particularly bound to the continent. There were much fewer guests on the red carpet from Europe this year (the U.S. never really figures at all, thank God), and there was a noted increase in Chinese film people compared to last year. Iran wasn’t represented as much as it usually is, perhaps owing to the fact that BIFF asked director Mohammad Rasoulof to head the New Currents jury. Rasoulof had a warrant issued for his arrest  by the Iranian government when he was out of the country, so, of course, he’s in exile now. He wasn’t there last night, but was “en route” as the emcee said. 

Watching the ceremony on TV also gets you a lot more shots of Korean actors, of which Lee Jung-jae and Song Jung-ki earned the most. During the fairly long montage of films with actor Lee Sun-kyun, who committed suicide last year and is being honored with a Special Program in Focus, the camera lit on various people in the audience wiping away tears, which is sort of the media behavior that I imagine contributed in some part to Lee’s tragic end (he was being badgered by the police over drugs). 

Despite what I said above about Europe, Chanel seems to be slowly taking over the festival. In addition to sponsoring the BIFF Academy every year, this year they launched the Camellia Award for outstanding contribution by a female filmmaker. The inaugural recipient was Ryu Seong-hie, who richly deserved it. She was the production designer on most of the great films of Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho, and if there’s anything that truly sets mainstream Korean cinema apart from its international peers it’s production design, which is often the best part of a movie. Continuing with its practice of giving the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award to a Japanese person every other year, Kiyoshi Kurosawa got it this year. He has two new films at the festival, so it’s kind of convenient. He praised BIFF, naturally, and went out on a limb by declaring that Korean film audiences are “the most sophisticated in the world.” Not sure if I believe that, but BIFF audience’s certainly are singularly engaged in the movies they attend. 

My nomination for best performance on the red carpet was Shiori Ito, the director and subject of the documentary Black Box Diaries, who did a lively dance after being introduced. I had always pegged her as being quite serious, probably owing to the horrible experience she described in her movie, but she’s actually a riot. Her American producer introduced me to her at the Opening Reception—which I ended up crashing since, as with the Opening Ceremony, I didn’t get an invitation—and I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who was happier to be at the festival.