South Korea basks in cinematic glory at Pusan festival

From the hordes of screaming fans to the flag-lined streets and non-stop parties that have transformed this southern port city, the South Korean movie industry is clearly in the mood to celebrate after a decade of phenomenal growth.

The Pusan International Film Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, has plenty of reasons to be cheerful: cinemas are packed, exports are soaring, and the world's leading film gatherings are paying homage to South Korea.

The festival in Pusan, which has a daily procession of

international and local stars treading the red carpet near Haeundae Beach, has become the jewel in the crown of Asia's new cinematic king. Organizers of the nine-day event have been basking in the gushing compliments of all-comers from Jackie Chan to leading Taiwan auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢), who have all proclaimed the festival the biggest and best in Asia.

"The Pusan International Film Festival has been getting bigger and better each year, while the fortunes of Asian, and particularly South Korean, film have grown as well," festival programmer Kim Je-seok said in an interview. "There's a synergy."

More than 80 homegrown movies were produced last year, compared with less than 50 in 1999, according to the Korean Film Council. Domestic box office receipts have increased ten-fold over the past decade, boosting market share from 20 to more than 50 percent.

Exports have risen to more than US$50 million per year compared with just US$200,000 in 1995, with 194 films sold abroad last year, up from 15 a decade before.

"There has been huge, huge growth. The industry has grown very quickly," said An Cheong-sook, chairwoman of the Korean Film Council, noting that South Korean film-making began to improve when the military dictatorship ended in 1987.

"There was no more censorship so producers and directors were allowed to use their creativity," she said.

Western film festivals took notice, and critical acclaim poured in for distinctive works by leading Korean directors including Jang Sun-woo, Park Kwang-soo, and Lee Myung-se.

"The [commercial] market only came after the festival success," An said, adding that a change of attitude to the industry in 1999 provided a second spur to growth.

The government pledged US$150 million to the industry and set up the film council to help produce, promote and distribute Korean films.

About the same time, it began enforcing a quota system requiring every cinema to show homegrown movies at least 106 days a year which, while unpopular with the US, dramatically boosted domestic market share to the highest in the world, An said.

Pulling power

Pusan film festival's growth has mirrored the fortunes of national cinema and this year is bigger than ever with more than 300 films from 70 countries, while attracting leading film and industry figures from around the world.

Festival programmer Kim attributed the meteoric rise of South Korean cinema to its inability to be pigeon-holed and the X-factor that has made Korea's stars among the biggest in Asia.

"Hong Kong films make you think of action, Japanese films of Samurai and animation, but what kind of film is Korea known for? There is no one type," Kim said.

"Of course that could be negative, but I think it's positive because we get to have a variety of films," he said.

Korean movies have yet to wow mainstream audiences outside Asia but they have been increasingly feted by major festivals and Hollywood movie moguls.