It’s been two years since we last set foot at Asia’s top movie destination and we’re looking forward to bringing you the best of this year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) - reviews, celebs and all.
Besides getting up close and personal with the best that Asian cinema has to offer, we’re also glad to see Royston Tan, Eric Khoo and co. carrying the Singapore flag high on the world stage.
The opening and closing films for BIFF 2015 are from India and China respectively, reflecting the immense potential of Asia’s two largest film markets. India in particular has historically been under-represented despite being the world’s most prolific film producer, and the last Indian film to open or close BIFF was The Wrestlers in 2000.
So it’s a pleasure to have Zubaan by new director Mozez Singh as the opening film this year. As a debut film, it’s hard to say how it’ll turn out, but as far as we could tell from the trailer it has a healthy dose of the Bollywood dance and music that we know and love.
The closing film is Larry Yang’s Mountain Cry but as far as Chinese films go we’re looking forward to Jia Zhangke’s Mountains May Depart and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin, both featured in the Gala Presentation. Mainland director Jia is known for his gritty and honest depictions of social change in China, such as in 24 City. Taiwan’s Hou won Best Director at Cannes this year for The Assassin, starring Shu Qi.
New to this year’s BIFF is “Asian Cinema 100”, a ranking of the top Asian films of all time. Among the top ten are Tokyo Story by Ozu Yasujiro, Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa and Still Life by Jia Zhangke. The list will be updated every five years and we hope it will be another chance to revisit the great classics as well as for BIFF to fulfil its role as the torchbearer for Asian film.
One of the great things about attending BIFF is the host of Korean films on offer and there’ll be a second chance to catch Jeon Ji-hyun’s latest blockbuster Assassination, as well as last year’s box office breaker Ode to My Father.
There will also be “meet and greet” events with top stars and directors and we’ll be looking out for the hardworking Tang Wei, who made her presence felt this year with a total of five films – Blackhat, Only You, Monster Hunt, A Tale of Three Cities and Office.
And we won’t forget to do our patriotic SG50 duty by cheering for the three Singapore features at BIFF 2015, namely 3688, 7 Letters and In The Room.
With a total of 304 films from 74 countries, including 94 world premieres, BIFF 2015 has a lot on offer! Our contributor, Jeremy is in Busan to bring you as many reviews, news and updates as possible! Stay tuned...