Indonesian films feature strongly at Pusan

Indonesian films feature strongly at Pusan

Paolo Bertolin, Contributor, Pusan, South Korea

Claiming to be the leader among Asian film events, Pusan
International Film Festival (PIFF) opened on Oct 6.

Taking curtain-raiser honors was Three Times by Taiwanese
master filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien, a mesmerizing depiction of
three romances played by the same actors, Shu Qi and Chang Chen,
against the backdrop of different epochs in Taiwan's troubled
history.

It is the 10th edition of the festival, which is held in the
port city of Busan. The sheer number of films screened at the
festival, its growing audience and international standing have
made it one of East Asia's major film festivals, alongside the
Tokyo and Hong Kong festivals.

Early on, a decision was made by its committee to
not only spotlight Korea's own cinematic achievements but to take
a regional focus. This choice was likely dictated by the costly
task of competing with long-standing European events such as the
Cannes, Venice and Berlin festivals.

PIFF officials have in fact successfully implemented a series
of initiatives promoting Asian cinema, endorsing the search for
new talent, rediscovering the hidden treasures of Asian film
histories and pushing forward a new generation of filmmakers.

The festival is bolstered by the New Currents competition,
which awards prizes to young Asian filmmakers' first and second
feature films, as well as a prize for Asian Filmmaker of the
Year.

It also incorporates a series of academic conferences focusing
on production networking in Asia and the future of digital cinema
and the international reception of Asian films, and, last but not
least, the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP).

A full-fledged market for quality film projects from all over
Asia, PPP invites filmmakers wishing to find financing for their
films, as well as perspective financiers, producers, sales agents
and distributors not just from Asia, but from Europe and America.

Indonesia is represented at the 8th PPP too, with director
Riri Riza seeking funds for his next production, 3 Days to
Forever.

Riza will also introduce Korean audiences to his latest film,
the ambitious Gie, a filmed biography of political activist Soe
Hok Gie, starring Nicholas Saputra.

Saputra is very likely to attend the event as he also stars in
Joko Anwar's crowd-pleaser Janji Joni, selected in the Window on
Asian Cinema program.

PIFF has consistently paid attention to recent Indonesian
filmmaking, previously screening Riza's Eliana Eliana, Nan T.
Achnas' Whispering Sands and Ravi L. Bharwani's The Rainmaker. It
has also featured a special program titled "Garin and the Next
Generation: New Possibilities in Indonesian Cinema".

This pays homage to the work of Garin Nugroho and documents
the resurgence of Indonesian film after a decade of virtual
disappearance. Nugroho will be back in Busan once again this year
with Of Love and Eggs, released in Indonesia late last year.

The Indonesian presence at the festival is rounded off by Rudi
Soedjarwo's About Her plus two short films, Edwin's Kara, the
Daughter of a Tree, and Vanni Jamin's The Standoff.

Most notably, there is also a tribute to Teguh Karya (1937-
2001), pioneer of arthouse cinema in Indonesia. Two of Karya's
films will be screened, Ballad of the Man, his debut feature from
1972, and Behind the Mosquito Net (1983).

Director and actor Slamet Rahardjo Djarot, who starred in both
of Karya's films and who is at the festival to revive the memory
of Karya's contribution to Indonesian cinema, epitomized Karya's
work as "a rendering of the fight between the marginalized and
weak and the stronger powers".