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For its 19th edition, the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) opened to unusually large fanfare with none other than Asian superstar LEE Min-ho in attendance for the opening ceremony, who was on hand to collect one of this year’s Producer’s Choice Awards, along with actress MOON Chae-won. LEE wasn’t the only big name to show his face in Bucheon as HK star Simon YAM, the subject of a retrospective in BiFan this year, was also spotted around town during the festival’s first weekend. Later on, Japanese gonzo filmmaker SONO Sion, also the focus of a BiFan strand, took part in masterclasses and Q&As for two of his brand new films.

 

 

Following a noticeable absence last year, Korean cinema made a grand return to the festival’s signature Bucheon Choice competition this summer with two titles competing for BiFan’s top prize. Neither claimed it in the end, as that distinction went to Philip YUNG’s electric true-life Hong Kong murder yarn Port of Call, but Cannes selectee Coin Locker Girl was good enough for second place, clinching this year’s Jury’s Choice Award. Less well received was LEE Seo’s erotic revenge tale Tattooist, which staged its world premiere at the fest.

 

Beyond that pair, the most visible Korean film at BiFan in 2015 was The Chosen: Forbidden Cave, the shamanist horror pic that served as curtain closer for this 19th edition. The second film by The Neighbors (2012) helmer KIM Hwi, the closing film was a mixture of family trauma, revenge tale and exorcism horror and was met with a muted response by the audience that filled the Bucheon Gymnasium following the awards ceremony on July 24th.

 

Part of the difficulty for spectators, particularly foreign ones, was the film’s brush with shamanism, a notoriously difficult subject to concisely portray on screen. There have been high points in shamanist Korean horror (also known as ‘musok films’), such as Possessed (2009) and Night Fishing (2012) from PARK Chan-wook and PARK Chan-kyong or KIM Ki-young’s classic Ieoh Island (1977), but more often than not attempts at the subgenre have been difficult to follow, and The Chosen: Forbidden Cave was unable to buck that trend. Also adding to the musok genre was LG HiEntech Award winner Alice: Boy from Wonderland, from HUH Eun-hee, which used shamanism as a tool to unlock the buried memories of its protagonist.

 

Another common trope noticeable among this year’s local crop in Bucheon was erotica, such as the violent sexuality of Tattooist to the Joseon Era titillation of Ownerless Flower Uhwudong by LEE Soo-sung and the illicit eroticism of JUNG Dae-man’s softcore adultery drama Purpose of Reunion. Reflecting the rise of skin flicks destined for the IPTV market in a society that is slowly distancing itself from puritanical traditionalism, the domestic erotic fare at BiFan, though not yet mature enough for global consumption, indicates the willingness of Korean filmmakers to push the boundaries of sexual representation on local screens. Also on show was JEON Kyu-hwan’s latest film Angry Painter, an arthouse revenge erotica that was presented in the ‘Masters’ section.

 

On the other end of the local crop were the more subdued affairs of romantic melodrama HAN Cheol-soo’s Amor, in which JUNG Kyung-ho must deal with his soon to be departed wife, and the North Korea-themed drama Sunshine from PARK Jin-soon. Also in the lineup were BiFan veterans such as BACK Seung-kee with his low-budget Genesis spoof Super Origin and OH In-chun with 12 Deep Red Nights, the first installment of a planned horror omnibus trilogy. The filmmakers previously visited BiFan with Super Virgin in 2012 and Mourning Grave last year, respectively.

 

 

While BiFan’s lineup featured few local standouts, it was a particularly big year for neighboring Japan, with many new titles from some of the country’s biggest names and a number of big new discoveries that had guests (and jurors) buzzing during the fest.

 

As in previous years, prolific filmmaker MIIKE Takashi once again had a film in selection, this time the Cannes Midnight Screening Yakuza Apocalypse. His contemporary SONO Sion had a number of films screening in his own section, including career highlights such as Suicide Club (2001) and Love Exposure (2008), as well as the first international screenings of Love and Peace and Tag, two of six projects he has lined up for a bumper 2015. In particular, the anarchic, creative and empathetic Love and Peace was very well received during its screenings, while Tag provided the festival one of its most memorable scenes with an unforgettable opening sequence that pitted the wind against two buses full of unsuspecting teenage girls. Ghost in the Shell (1995) director OSHII Mamoru’s latest live action film Nowhere Girl was also on the program.

 

Among less well known names, TAKE Masaharu screened 100 Yen Love, which received strong notices from viewers and earned itself the Netpac Prize, while HASUMI Eiichiro's colorful manga adaptation Assassination Classroom took home the EFFFF (European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation) Award for Best Asian Film, and Lisa TAKEBA returned to BiFan with Haruko’s Paranormal Laboratory following last year’s The Pinkie.

 

Beyond Asia, BiFan also featured a strong contingent from Mexico and Latin America, with a showcase of genre films from the former (as well as a Mexican Film Night midway through the fest) and a number of titles from new and veteran names from the latter across the festival’s varied sections. Most prominently, Natalia Meta’s Argentinian erotic thriller Death in Buenos Aires picked up the Best Actor prize for leading man Chino Darin, while Mexican horror Honeymoon from Diego Cohen also screened in the Bucheon Choice section.

 

Danny RHEE, BiFan’s Programmer for Europe and the Americas, told KoBiz that following this year’s Mexican showcase and the focus on Latin American and Argentinian genre cinema in previous editions, he hopes to take a closer look at the cinemas of Brazil or Chile next year.

 

Yet the above were only some of the highlights of a jam-packed program which featured a record 234 films from 45 countries. Many of those were scouted by programmers at major film events such as the Sundance Film Festival, South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, the Berlin and Hong Kong International Film Festivals and the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan earlier this year.

 

With BiFan’s 2015 edition in the rearview mirror, BiFan organizers are now looking to the festival’s anticipated 20th edition next year. RHEE told us that they hope “to show some of the most memorable and beloved films in the festival’s 20-year history.” He added that they are planning to stage a BiFan Kids section, which would invite filmmakers who found acclaim with their shorts or debuts in BiFan in the past to return to Bucheon with new works.