Busan’s Asian Cinema Fund names winners

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Out of a total of 438 submissions, ACF selected 16 non-Korean Asian projects and 11 Korean projects.

“When we’re looking at which projects to fund from around Asia, we try to choose the ones that would not be likely to get support from anywhere else except us. As for the Korean projects, we look at overall quality. And for all projects, we look for how prepared they are, and whether they have a new approach,” said ACF director Hong Hyosook.

She added that documentary submissions this year were particularly strong.

“We had about 90 Asian documentary submissions alone, about 30 more than last year. Overall, they were good in quality, well-prepared and planned out. We had a limited number of slots, so it was difficult. We’re thinking this is the result of the success of AND [completed films], but will wait until next year to make that evaluation,” she explained.

The AND Fund selections this year include Patriotism ’90, directed by Du Haibin, the 2005 winner of the fest’s AND DongSeo Asia Fund with Stone Mountain; Zen Priest Henry’s Red Shoes by Nakamura Takayuki and To Singapore, With Love by Tan Pin Pin.

“Films that are basically well-made definitely benefit from proper post-production. As with Jiseul,” she said, referring to director O Muel’s Jeju Island-based indie feature that got ACF post-production support last year and won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic category this year.

Post-production Fund selections include prolific Thai editor-turned-debut-director Lee Chatametikool’s Concrete Clouds, Asian Film Academy (AFA) 2011 graduate Khoroldorj Choijoowanchig’s Mongolian project Yellow Colt - about an orphan boy and a pony, and Kim Jaehan’s Korean project Thuy, a story about a Vietnamese bride to Korea and what happens in the village after her husband’s mysterious death. These projects are set to wrap post in Korea ahead of world premieres at Busan.

The eight Script Development Fund winners include Beer Girl, the latest from AFA 2009 graduate and 2012 Rotterdam Tiger Award winner Wichanon Somumjarn (In April The Following Year, There Was A Fire) and The Internship, directed by 2007 Locarno shorts competitor Kim Geon (Pig and Shakespeare).

The 18th BIFF will run Oct 3 – 12 with the Asian Film Market and Asian Project Market Oct 7 - 10, 2013.

2013 Asian Cinema Fund selection list

(title/country/director with surname in upper case)

1. Script Development Fund

Asian Projects

• Peace Haven (India, USA) Suman GHOSH
• The Blackboard Princess (Philippines) Racquel ZABALLERO-SANCHEZ
• The Day I Lost My Shadow (Syria) Soudade KAADAN
• The Science of Fictions (Indonesia) Yosep ANGGI NOEN

Korean Projects

• Perfect Stranger (Korea) GOH Taejeong
• The Internship (Korea) KIM Geon
• Your Family (Korea) SHIM Hyun-seok

Asian Film Academy Project

• Beer Girl (Thailand) Wichanon SOMUMJARN

2. Post-production Fund

Asian Projects

• Concrete Clouds (Thailand) Lee CHATAMETIKOOL
• Yellow Colt (Mongolia) Khoroldorj CHOIJOOVANCHIG

Korean Projects

• Mot (Korea) SEO Ho-bin
• Shuttlecock (Korea) LEE Yubin
• Thuy (Korea) KIM Jaehan

3. Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund

Asian Projects

• Bullet from Nowhere (China) GU Tao
• Datong (China) ZHOU Hao
• Our Metropolis (India) Gautam SONTI
• Patriotism ‘90 (China) DU Haibin
• The Iron Demon (Sri Lanka, France) Jude RATNAM
• The Storm Makers (Cambodia, France) Guillaume SUON
• Tondo, Beloved (Philippines) Jewel MARANAN
• To Singapore, With Love (Singapore) TAN Pin Pin
• Zen Priest Henry’s Red Shoes (Japan) NAKAMURA Takayuki

Korean Projects

• Comfort Factory Complex (Korea) IM Heung-soon
• Hijab (Korea) KIM Tae-Il
• Open City: Guangzhou and Ansan (Korea) KIM Jeong
• Prisoner Of Conscience (Korea) KIM Cheol Min
• Solidarity for the Gureombi (Korea) CHO Sung Bong