Busan: The Right to Creative Freedom

2014 will be a landmark year for the 19th International Film Festival of Busan (BIFF). This is the year BIFF has won world acclaim for refusing to be muzzled by vested interests. It has unilaterally upheld its right to freedom of expression in the films they choose, and also its strong support of the creative auteur content in cinema.

The festival opened on October 2 with its usual pomp and glory - a lavish, media dominated night of star-studded and celebrity-led presentation that highlights the South Korean film industry and that of neighbouring countries. This year the huge event went smoothly and expeditiously with short, crisp speeches and more decorous and curtailed stage presence of stars, who in earlier years wore somewhat startling outfits that reveal far more of their physical assets than their TV or screen talent. The director of BIFF was quoted as saying that efforts were made this year to have a more judicious blend of cinematic talent when it came to film content and glamour.

Far more important in recent days is a subject that has stoked controversy to a boiling point in the port city of Busan on an incident that is still emotionally charged for South Koreans. The film is the 85-minute Taiwanese documentary “The Truth Shall Not Sink With Sewol” ( also known as “Diving Bell”) directed by journalist Lee Sang-Ho and filmmaker Ahn Hae-Ryong .

Being world premiered on October 6 at BIFF, it is on the recent April disaster when Busan’s Sewol Ferry sank off the coast of Korea, leaving most of its 500 passengers adrift and claiming the lives of more than 300 students of Danwon High School. “Divine Bell” refers to a piece of specialized equipment that was drafted in for the widely-criticized rescue and recovery operation, but hardly used. Local critics, as also some of the victims, believe that the film is insensitive and politicized and have badgered the festival organizers to cancel the screening.

The Mayor of Busan, Seo Byung-soo, also chairman of the BIFF committee, joined in saying that as the festival is 60 percent funded by the taxpayer, such a contentious screening should not be in the official programme and that privately funded screenings could be held instead by the filmmakers during the festival. However, the festival organizers have stood quietly firm and undeterred in their decision to screen the film. Korean filmmakers have called for a full government inquiry into the Sewol disaster.

There was no trace of any untoward under-current on BIFF’s opening day. In fact, at the after screening late night dinner, the Mayor himself was on stage to applaud BIFF’s founder and now honorary director, Kim Dong-ho, with the highest civilian award of France, the Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion D’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) , in the presence of Jérôme Pasquier, France’s ambassador to South Korea.