Busan Festival Honors Abbas Kiarostami, Unveils Project Picks
The late Abbas Kiarostami was this week announced as Asian Filmmaker of the Year by the Busan International Film Festival. The recently departed Iranian director will be represented at the festival’s opening ceremony by his son Ahmad Kiarostami. The festival will also line up nine Kiarostami directing efforts.
The festival’s Asian Cinema Fund, which supports production and development, is to back 22 projects. Five receiving script development finance include Chinese director Wang Jing’s “Changfeng Town;” “Goodbye Mr. Kanay” by Indian producer-director Shrihari Sathe; Busan’s Asian Film Academy graduate project “Mediterranean Blue” by Lebanon’s Sarah Francis.
Also selected are Nepal’s “The Secret of Radha” by Subarna Thapa and Vietnamese director Kim Quy Bui’s “Memoryland.” The five projects each receive KRW 10 million for script development.
to receive the support this year. That includes 5 projects for Script Development Fund, 5 for Post-production Fund, and 12 for Asian Network of Documentary Fund.
The festival’s Asian Project Market has selected a total of 27 titles from 16 countries, and gives a stronger than normal place to Asian women directors. They include biographical drama “Project Lee Jung-seob,” by Korea’s Yim Soon-rye; coming-of-age drama “All About Yuyu” by Malaysia’s Tan Chui Mui; and “The General’s Secret” by Thailand’s Pimpaka Towira.
The E-IP Pitching market was launched last year, intended to expand the range of market functions and reflect the changing shape of media creativity in Asia, and connections between Korea as a center of innovation and China as a financial power and media consumer.
This year’s selections include 10 web cartoons, web novels and original scripts in various genres such as fantasy romance, family animation, mystery thrillers, and zombie-action.
The festival will run Oct. 6—15. The four-day Asian Film Market runs Oct. 8—11. The festival’s full film selection will be announced on Sept. 6.
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