BIFF distribution arm builds debut slate

Pick-ups include Emmanuel Shirinian’s It Was You Charlie and Ramiro Belanger’s Clydecynic – both from Canada, and the Russian film Intimate Parts, directed by Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov. All three screened in BIFF 2013.

At time of writing, titles hammering out their contracts with BIFF included Tsai Ming Liang’s Stray Dogs (Taiwan-France) and Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s 1996 film A Moment Of Innocence and his 1991 film Time Of Love.

Others included Asian Cinema Fund support recipients Murali Nair’s Virgin Goat (India), Weng Shou Ming’s Fujian Blue (China), Woo Ming Jin’s Woman On Fire Looks For Water (Malaysia), Tongpong Chantarangkul’s I Carried You Home (Thailand/Singapore) and Khoroldorj Choijoovanjig’s Yellow Colt (Mongolia).

Ellie Jo, acquisitions manager at CAC Entertainment, told Screen International: “The biggest reason why we are doing this is there are a lot of people who import and distribute good films to Korea, but they have to think about profitability and sometimes even if a film is good, they can’t select it while considering the domestic market.

“The Busan film festival has a lot of good films that don’t get released. So we thought, the festival discovers a lot of good films, but can’t introduce them to more audiences. Why don’t we create an opportunity ourselves to solve this domestic problem with a cultural movement?”

CAC is initially focusing on former BIFF titles and ACF recipient titles that haven’t been distributed in Korea. The festival’s programmers participate in the selection process as advisors.

“We’re approaching this with a focus on quality rather than commercial value, so of course there are difficulties. At this stage, we are in initial talks with distribution networks and different platforms, but are planning to launch distribution in earnest next year, which will mark BIFF’s 20th edition,” said Jo.