Martinez’s One Hundred, 13 other films compete in Pusan
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 19:48:00 09/09/2008
Filed Under: Cinema, Awards and Prizes
SEOUL—Fourteen films from nine countries, including Filipino filmmaker Chris Martinez’s One Hundred, have been selected as candidates for the New Currents Award at this year's Pusan International Film Festival, organizers said Tuesday.
The award will go to the two best works by up-and-coming young directors, who will each receive $30,000, they said.
All 14 films are either the first or second films by young Asian directors which will be premiered at Pusan.
"We've selected works that are experimental and exploring," Kim Ji-Seok, executive programmer of the festival, told a press conference.
They include "Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly," directed by Indonesia's Edwin, who goes by one name, which depicts the reality of ethnic Chinese living in Indonesia.
There are three Chinese films (Er Dong by Yang Jin, Jalainur by Zhao Ye and Routine Holiday by Li Hongqi) and three South Korean works (Land of Scarecrows by Roh Geong-Tae, Member of Funeral by Baek Seung-Bin and The Pot by Kim Tae-Gon).
Also in contention are One Hundred by Chris Martinez of the Philippines; two Iranian films (Empty Chair by Saman Estereki, A Light in the Fog by Panahbarkhoda Rezaee); Nakid of Defenses by Ichii Masahide of Japan; Turmoil by Sabit Kurmanbekov of Kazakhstan; Ocean of an Old Man by Rajesh Shera of India; and A Moment in June by O Nathapon of Thailand.
The organizers also said that starting this year the festival will include not only Korean but other Asian short films and documentaries for its Wide Angle Award.
A Kazakh director's film depicting the tormented life of a Jewish boy living under Stalin's rule has been chosen for the opening movie of the 13th festival.
"The Gift to Stalin," directed by Rustem Abdrashev, will be the first of 315 films from 60 countries to be screened from October 2-10.
"It will premiere at the Pusan Festival for the first time since its completion in September," spokesperson Kim Jung-Yun told Agence France-Presse.
The film tells the story of a Jewish boy who was exiled on his own to Kazakhstan when various ethnic minorities were forcibly moved to Central Asia in 1949.
"The Gift to Stalin" has double meanings, the organizers said.
One is the Soviet Union's first nuclear test in 1949 to celebrate Stalin's 70th birthday and another is the Jewish boy's hope that he will be allowed to meet his parents should he send a gift to Stalin.
Organizers announced last month that a female Kazakh producer, Gulnara Sarsenova, will be named Asian Filmmaker of the Year at the festival.
The closing film will be South Korean director Yoon Jong-Chan's "I Am Happy" based on a novel describing the hopes of patients locked in mental institutions.
The book was written by the late Lee Chung-Joon, one of South Korea's best modern writers.
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