Asian actresses walk the red carpet at Busan International Film Festival
The glamour, the stars, and the dresses! Busan in South Korea is usually a low-key city, but come every October the coastal town comes to life with Asia’s most celebrated movie stars. And of course if you’re a big fan of Korean pop culture you’ll want to check out what your favorite stars are wearing.
The actresses, as always, were dressed to the nines, and looked mind-blowingly beautiful. Black and white dresses were in abundance. But what I really like are the one-of-a-kind gowns that are hard to pull off but wears so well on the stars who know a thing or two about taking on a fashion challenge.
So here’s a sample of the glamor. Also, don’t forget to check out Y. Peter Kang’s look at actress Oh In Hye’s controversial dress here!
Not an American star or filmmaker in sight as Asia’s largest film festival moves forward.
Notice anything different about the Busan International Film Festival this year? Actually, there are many changes.
There’s a new festival director, Lee Yong-kwan; there’s a new venue, the Busan Cinema Center; and the Asian Film Market has moved to the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre.
But amid all the changes, something’s missing: Hollywood.
BIFF opened with a Korean film and will close with a Japanese one. This year’s gala presentations include films from Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan, France and the United Kingdom. Director Luc Besson and his The Lady leading lady Michelle Yeoh certainly have Southern California cred, but his Aung San Suu Kyi biopic is hardly Hollywood fare.
Of BIFF’s three juries, not one has a single American member. A handful of American buyers and exhibitors are attending the Asian film Market.
Now, let’s keep this in perspective. Busan is an international event, but it is Asia’s, not North America’s, largest film festival. That Korean films would be most prominent at an event held in Korea, followed by films from throughout Asia, is not a surprise.
That said, the U.S. remains the world’s largest film market, and Korean filmmakers have had some success selling remake rights to American producers. Korean actors have also made some headway appearing in Hollywood productions, including singer-actor-soldier Rain and Lee Byung-hun, more so than, say, their counterparts from China and Japan.
This is disappointing from an event that has previously welcomed the likes of Oliver Stone, Bryan Singer, Willem Dafoe and Josh Hartnett. While a film festival can certainly be international without a predominance of American titles and filmmakers, their absence this year is conspicuous.
2011 marks the beginning of a new era at BIFF. However, if first impressions are lasting ones, then current indications are that going forward, Busan will be a Korean festival first, an Asian festival second and an international one last.
Hi Israel, thanks for your conmemt and links to more positive’ reviews.I won’t attend the screening for the reasons stated above this issue has already taken up (too many) days of my time and energy, I don’t want to find myself in a position where I might have take the role of educator’ within a potentially hostile environment, and the screening is too late for me to attend. I am already supporting the festival by volunteering on the selection panel and attending films and sessions that will (hopefully) include fewer instances of anti-trans violence.As I’ve clearly stated, I don’t have an issue with the film being screened (I do have an issue with the framing and the way the film’s inclusion was handled), as I believe that people deserve the chance to view it if they wish. I also believe that there is no one correct’ reading of a film, and think that some trans viewers will no doubt find the film empowering and get a kick out of seeing trans characters exacting revenge on transphobic cis people. Quite frankly, having seen the trailer and some of your conmemts elsewhere, I have no interest in finding out if that would be the case for me.
Fan Bing Bing is Fantastic! Be sure to check out her body of work! 🙂
Very happy to see the discussion apsrked by the inclusion of Israel Luna’s film Ticked off Trannies With Knives – seems it’s been worth it, just for that alone. Lisa, I beg to differ. This is about way more than Ticked Off Trannies. Let us put this in historical perspective. MQFF has always been rather blind where trans representation is concerned. The trans programming panel only happened, in fact, because so many frustrated Melbourne trans people bitched about MQFF’s constant devaluing of trans films in private that one or two people decided to step up and change things from the inside of MQFF. Kudos to them. However, the trans panel appears to function as a tokenistic way to demonstrate that MQFF cares about trans representation. The existence of the trans panel appears to have had no effect on the way MQFF programs way less representations of transness than boring, homonormative gay coming out stories. At this year’s festival, like every other festival in recent memory, many people will miss out on seeing trans-themed screenings because MQFF doesn’t bother to put them in the larger cinema. This is not just about bums on seats . The trans and allied community DOES turn up every year, and we have to compete with each other for tickets to the few films shown. This is the history that informs the current controversy. Additionally, your comment that you’re very happy to see discussion happen is clearly disingenuous. The only discussion happening right now is about how MQFF sucks. It’s not about the content of Ticked Off Trannies With Knives (which is why your snarky comment that this is just internet gossip by people who haven’t seen the film makes no sense). If your intention was to facilitate community discussion, you would have screened the film with a community panel inclusive of the trans people who might feel angry about this film as has been done elsewhere, and at MQFF for other controversial programming choices. But trans people evidently matter so little to MQFF that you thought it would be fine and dandy to stir up some controversy and get more people along to the film. After all, that’s what matters, isn’t it? Bums on seats at the expense of alienating the Melbourne trans communities or having any shred of political integrity. What a pity.