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Here is my Japan Times story about this year’s Busan International Film Festival. As is always the case, space restrictions prevented me from writing all I wanted to write about the festival and the movies I saw, though, for the most part, I think the piece conveys the tone of the event. A few things I might add is that the political situation that has threatened to derail BIFF for the past several years is perhaps getting out of hand. The Iranian director, Bahman Ghobadi, who was a member of the New Currents jury, put the matter into perspective when he said during the jury press conference that while he is concerned about the possible quashing of free speech on the part of the mayor and other government officials, he can’t quite bring himself to despair when he sees the wide variety of viewpoints on display. After all, he can’t make the movies he wants to make in his native country, and gave in interesting example: When he shows people drinking beverages he may be asked by the censors to include dialogue that points out that these people are not drinking alcohol. Those are niggling little restrictions, but they indicate larger, more forceful restrictions on themes and intentions. “Your problems in Korea are small” in comparison, he said.

When I had breakfast on Saturday morning with Shin Suwon, the director of the opening film, “Glass Garden,” we talked a little about this but it didn’t really seem like a big deal to her, either, even though she is a member of the Korean Directors Federation, which is, technically, still boycotting the festival. As an independent filmmaker, she is more concerned with how such political considerations affect funding. As I said in the piece, the administration of deposed president Park Geun-hye had blacklisted lots of artists it didn’t like from receiving government funds for their work. Such funding is extremely important to filmmakers, like Shin, who aren’t connected to large entertainment companies, but she told me that she’s never had trouble getting money due to the political content of her work, only for, as she put it, the “non-commercial” nature of her movies, something that all independent filmmakers in South Korea have to deal with. The fact is, as vital as Korea’s film industry is, and as innovative and imaginative as its independent directors are, indie films still have a very tough time financially in the domestic market. They have trouble getting financing and then after they’re made have trouble getting distributed. Even the superstar independents, like Kim Ki-duk and Hong Sang-soo, are distributed sparingly. Their reputation is huge, but they are mainly appreciated at foreign film festivals and in Korean art houses for maybe two or three weeks a year at most. Though certainly the alleged government crackdown hurt them, in a way it’s probably difficult for them to tell how much it’s hurt them, since it’s a tough life in the first place. The fact that they can even make such consistently high quality films under such circumstances is a miracle.

Consequently, I was disappointed that I didn’t see more Korean independent films. I usually see at least four movies a day, but this time I didn’t because of other commitments. In any event, this is what I did see. Continue reading →