The Circuit

Patrick Frater and Marcus Lim wrap up the Asian Film Market.  Sounds like a bust.

The Asian Film Market sputtered to a dismal halt Monday in Pusan, with many buyers rushing for the airport and sellers left staring into empty corridors.

While numerous explanations were offered for the slump, which came despite an improvement in the facilities, the simple fact was that there were very few deals signed and no standout product or project.

Variety's team in Korea will be reporting from the Pusan film festival and market all week.  Fest kicked off today with Rustem Abdrashev’s “The Gift to Stalin” along with traffic and teens:

Opening night boasted traffic jams and swarms of teenagers hoping for a glimpse of festival jury head Anna Karina; James Kyson Lee, from NBC’s “Heroes”; A-list Korean stars including Jang Dong-gun; and a bevy of Asian starlets.

Snooping around the (great) Variety Asia blog site, I found the below Patrick Frater post from Pusan that puts the circuit life in perspective.  Appropriate, as we approach the Denver Film Festival and their now-infamous Late Night Lounge of alcohol and sin via sponsors Bombay Sapphire, Ciroc Vodka, Moet Champaign, Stella Artois, and Sterling Vineyards.  Infamous, because the party has grown out or been thrown out of four different venues in four years.  This year they found a warehouse.  They’re still waiting on a liver sponsor. 

Am I an alcoholic?
Tuesday, 09 October 2007 - PUSAN

I'd like to think that I can blame this on something other than myself. Korea maybe.

I'm going to all it a "festival headache." But whatever fancy name I give it, there is too much drinking in my life this week. Take yesterday evening for example.

The Variety Asia one year anniversary party: lots of water before my speech; mixed wine and beer afterwards.

Post-party drink: bottle of wine shared between five people.

Pusan market party: I can't remember (!)

Dinner with Chinese talent agents and French cultural attache: I taught the Chinese to mix baekseju and soju like a real Korean, they taught me to 'gan' or drink shots like an idiot.

Wide Angle Party: some beer I think, but it was too noisy to drink, so I didn't stay. But I left my phone there as a token of my appreciation.

Boracai night club: Walking in I met two women friends from Hong Kong who may have been using the club for its normal function of speed dating. We never found out. One stayed with us and danced. Management wouldn't let us order less than 12 bottles of beer. Seriously.

Slowly wending my way back into my hotel, I met a dear friend from Korea who wanted to talk. Went to a nearby fish restaurant, where she talked. I sipped more baekseju and had the impression I was falling asleep in her soup.

This has to stop.

(P. Frater)

 

Peter Greenaway has a number of tools he uses to piss people off.  Usually it's yelling at a ridiculous question in a Q&A.  In Korea, he didn't disappoint.  Some choice selects from Clifford Coonan's dispatch from Pusan, where Greenaway gave a master class and his film, "Nightwatching," will screen.  (pictured, Greenaway at Toronto. Photo by Krist Papas/WireImage.com)

"Cinema's death date was in 1983, when the remote control was introduced to the living room," said Greenaway, who has shocked and delighted auds, often simultaneously, with classic movies such as "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" and "Prospero's Books."

The Welsh-born, English-raised helmer shocked the film students in attendance by taking aim at some of the biggest figures in the biz.

"Here's a real provocation -- (U.S. video artist) Bill Viola is worth 10 Martin Scorseses," he said. "Scorsese is old-fashioned and is making the same films that D.W. Griffith was making early last century."

Greenaway then warned: "I like a fight" and he got one too, dismissing a comment on his views as "not intelligent" and "humbug."

Check out the full story here.

In addition to their big picture reporting, Variety's Pusan team is on the ground in Korea, sacrificing possibly much more than their palette on their daily film blog: 

It is actually very delicious, but here's two survival tips of eating the live octopus.

1 - Consuming a significant amount of soju beforehand always helps.

2 - Don't swallow too quickly. Make sure you chew it thoroughly as it has been known that the octopus can come back up after it is swallowed, but it is capable of twisting and turning back up, getting stuck in your throat during the process. Or according to P. Frater, it could wriggle into your lungs after it came back up to your throat and effectively killing you in the process. He is adament every year, someone dies from it in Korea.

Which led me, of course, to YouTube.  Could there be any videos of people eating live octopus?  Yes.  Too many.

And appropriate to the Pusan film fest, there's even this one from "Oldboy":

Derek Elley has a good article up on the Pusan lineup.  They have a strong list this year: Feng Xiaogang's big war film "Assembly" and a big anime, "Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone." (pictured, the trailer of which has rebuilds all over YouTube)  He notes all eyes are on the New Currents and Window on Asian Cinema sections, the only competitive area: "These are two of the reasons why scouts, buyers and crix jet in each year -- and it's through them that PIFF has nailed its increasingly indie colors to the fest mast."

Also interesting is the gloves-off fight brewing between the different Asian fests as the region's filmmaking keeps up a hot streak:

The not-so-good news is that next year Tokyo will shift its dates to just before PIFF (from just after), imperiling the Koreans' ability to get as many headline world preems. And ambitious new management at other fests -- notably Shanghai and South Korea's PiFan, both in the summer -- are reorganizing their programming to take advantage of perceived weaknesses in PIFF's Asian selection, which has become progressively focused on indie and arthouse product.