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This year, I had the pleasure to participate at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia for the first time and the great honor to do so as a producer (for LEE Sang-woo’s Speed) and as a jury member for the Focus Asia and Anima’t sections, on which I served with actress Me Me Lai, known for her work in British and Italian horror films in the 1970s, and Thomas NAM, the Managing Director of the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF).

 

Located a 40-minute drive west of Barcelona along the coast, Sitges is a popular resort town along the Mediterranean filled with sinuous cobbled streets, rustic tapas bars and scenic trails along the beach. Centered around the Melia hotel, which rises above the area east of the center, the festival takes place all over town. The primary screen is the Auditori, a cavernous 1400-seat venue located at the bottom of the Melia. Beside it is the smaller Tramuntana (400 seats) and in town audiences can check out the recently renovated Cine El Retiro (600 seats), the converted old theater Cine Prado (450 seats) and the Brigadoon, which presents free screenings throughout the event.

 

With showtimes kicking off well before 9 a.m. on opening day (October 9th), the festival wasted no time to get going and once the ball started rolling, it didn’t abate, with non-stop screenings all the way through till late the following Sunday (October 18th). The screening schedule includes all-night marathons which kick off at 1 a.m. and presents anywhere from 2-5 films every day.

 

 
Speaking to people around town about what their most anticipated titles revealed a lot of interest in Korean films, which have been prevalent in Sitges lineups for many years. Only one title from the peninsula has picked up the fest’s Best Film award, and it may come as little surprise that the film was PARK Chan-wook’s modern genre classic Old Boy, which picked up the prize in 2004, a few months after its Grand Prize win at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

However, Korea’s history of awards stretches back much further, as YOUN Yuh-jung earned a Special Mention for Best Actress for KIM Ki-young’s Insect Woman in 1972. In fact, that film’s only remaining print with English subtitles was the one made for the festival.

 

In recent times there has seldom been an edition when a Korean film hasn’t walked away with an award and this year was no different, as the jury I served on gave the Focus Asia Award to RYOO Seung-wan’s Veteran. Not only a critical darling (the film has met with rave reviews from foreign and local press), RYOO’s rip-roaring action-comedy has been a smash hit with domestic audiences, reaching 13.41 million admissions (USD 92.39 million), the all-time third highest haul for a Korean film.

 

Demonstrating the popularity of Korean films in the seaside Catalonian town, the Focus Asia prize has been clinched by a Korean film no less than four times in the last six years. Among those prize-winners, two names stand out. RYOO already won it in 2011 for his action-thriller The Unjust and again last year for the 3D omnibus MAD SAD BAD, which he contributed to, along with KIM Tae-yong and HAN Ji-seung. Also a recurring name is actor HWANG Jung-min, one of the leads of The Unjust, Veteran and also PARK Hoon-jung’s gangster saga New World, which picked up the award in 2013.

 

Veteran may have been the only Korean prize-winner this year, but many of the other hopefuls were strongly received. Viewers were particularly impressed by the spectacle of CHOI Dong-hoon’s period action-drama Assassination and the female-driven gangster tale Coin Locker Girl by HAN Jun-hee, with many highlighting the performances of leads KIM Hye-soo and KIM Go-eun in the Cannes-invited film. Another popular Cannes import was HONG Won-chan’s Office, a workplace satire that functions both as a thriller and a slasher.

 

Joseon Era period films, which have been in the midst of a boom in Korea during the last few years, were also popular picks in Sitges. MIN Kyu-dong’s erotic picture The Treacherous got a strong response just as it did in Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in September, as foreign audiences seemed to have warmed more to it than audiences did back in Korea, where it met with a muted commercial run.

 

The same could be said of LEE Won-suk’s The Royal Tailor, which served as the closing film of the New Visions Plus section and has recently earned awards at the Udine Far East Film Festival and screened at numerous high profile film jubilees, such as the Busan, Fantasia and Vancouver International Film Festivals. Other major commercial films that fared poorly at home but found audiences in Sitges were KIM Gwang-tae’s Brothers Grimm fairy tale update The Piper and YOO Ha’s 1970s-set gangster epic Gangnam Blues.

 

 

 

This year, festival attendees were treated to the Korean Academy of Film Arts-produced animation Crimson Whale from PARK Hye-mi, NO Zin-soo’s B-movie THE MAIDROID, and prolific indie maverick LEE Sang-woo’s Speed, following his presence at Sitges last year with Dear Dictator. Rounding out the section this year was a late festival appearance by Hungarian filmmaker György Pálfi’s Free Fall, which was co-financed and presented by the Jeonju International Film Festival last year.

 

It’s with a heavy heart that I left Sitges last year, but one filled with great memories. And while I’m not guaranteed to return year after year, you can be sure that Korean films will be in droves and local audiences will as ever be eager to sample the best which the industry has to offer in the charming Mediterranean retreat for years to come.