Busan film festival organizers put aside internal feud

By Park Sae-jin Posted : May 9, 2016, 14:06 Updated : May 9, 2016, 14:06

Actress Kang Soo- yeon  and Busan city mayor Suh Byung-Soo smile at a news conference. [Yonhap News Photo ]


Organizers of Asia's biggest film festival in South Korea's southern city of Busan agreed Monday to put aside a bitter internal feud for the successful hosting of the event which has been in trouble this year after film workers threatened to boycott.

The agreement was just a comprise as there was no clear commitment from Busan, which finances about half of the festival's annual budget, over demands from South Korean film workers who want full autonomy in hosting the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

The film festival has been mired in a dispute over the 2014 screening of a documentary about the South Korean passenger ferry that sank off the southwest coast with the loss of more than 300 lives.

At that time, festival workers led by former BIIF director Lee Young-kwan rejected a request from the host city of Busan to remove the documentary which highlighted the government's initial sloppy rescue operation, from the festival lineup.

In retaliation, Busan city mayor Suh Byung-Soo, who served as chief organizer, slashed city funding and tried to reshuffle the festival's organizing committee, citing alleged corruption. Lee and supporters have urged the mayor to end his high-handed interference in the festival's operation.

Monday's agreement came after the mayor accepted the proposed appointment of Kim Dong-ho, a respected film industry official, who will replace Suh as BIFF chief organizer and act as a go-between to bring back film workers to the festival. Kim, 78, founded the festival in 1996 and retired in 2010 after serving as festival director.

"We will keep our original intention in our mind ... and do our best for the successful hosting of BIIF," the mayor said in a joint statement endorsed by BIFF co-director and renowned actress Kang Soo-yeon, who has shared her role with Lee.

Kang, 48, has been a household name in South Korea ever since she debuted as a child actor in the 1970s. In 1989, she became the first Korean actress or actor to win international recognition by winning the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival.

South Korean film workers have threatened to stay away from this year's festival unless the mayor takes his hands off and revise rules governing the operation of BIFF to end excessive intervention.

On Monday, Suh agreed to start a discussion on revising the rules at the end of this year.

The row has intensified since Lee's three-year term officially expired in February. At the request of Busan city officials, state prosecutors last week charged Lee and three former and current committee members with corruption and embezzlement, sparking allegations that the investigation had been politically motivated.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기