Top Asian film festival aims to break boundaries
BUSAN, Oct 12 (AFP): After the fanfare of opening night Asia's premier film festival gets down to business in the South Korean port city of Busan Friday with a boundary-busting programme of regional cinema.
An array of international film stars dazzled on the red carpet as the 15th Pusan International Film Festival kicked off Thursday evening with an outdoor screening of Chinese's director Zhang Yimou's "Under the Hawthorn Tree".
The acclaimed director set the scene for the nine-day film fest, declaring that the event -- "the largest and greatest festival in Asia" -- is one that "gives film-makers opportunities."
Organisers have tried to do just that this year with an eclectic line-up of films and special events laid out for the more than 150,000 film lovers expected to flock to town before the festival closes on October 15.
The festival was founded to promote Asia's vast independent filmmaking scene and it offers a main jury prize of 30,000 dollars -- the New Currents award -- to two first or second time Asian directors.
This year there are 13 films vying for the award from as far afield as Iraq and Vietnam.
Heading the jury is Japanese costume designer Emi Wada, 73, who won an Oscar for her work on Akira Kirosawa's "Ran", joking that she was handed the role "simply because I am the eldest".
"When judging these films we have to look at what significance will they have in the history of cinema," she said. "These films will influence the next generation of film-makers so we will have to consider this."
Fellow jury member Kim Yun-Jin, star of the hit US TV series "Lost", said she had turned to festival director Kim Dong-Ho for advice on how to judge the films.