[PIFF] Hoping that moment will be about Busan

Actor Won Bin, actress Kim Sae-ron and director Lee Jeong-beom of film "The Man from Nowhere" walk the red carpet of the opening ceremony for the 15th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) in Busan, South Korea on October 7, 2010. [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

Second visit to Busan and first time covering the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF). It is experience that is embarrassing to even be considered short. But instead feeling discouraged by the Busan natives and reporters who cover PIFF every year, the fireworks which went off at the start of the festival were watched with ease and excitement. It was probably from the anticipation felt from getting to meet directly with actors and directors who turned up at the show with their films as precious as their own child, and the satisfaction felt from being amongst the huge crowd seated at the venue.
Let me give it to you more straightfoward. There was a satiety felt from seeing Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun who maintained a sexiness about him even with his moustache and curly hair and Aoi Yu presented her watcher with the realization that for the first time, there 'is a woman who is pretty enough to mesmerize even a woman.' And actor Jo Jin-woong who drew a burst of laughter by stepping onto the red carpet while clapping because he was worried of receiving lukewarm reaction from fans is a result of such complex emotions. That is why the words by a member of the audience who said, "I guess this is why people come to the opening ceremonies of film festivals," was taken as more than a mere joke.

The quivering night scene that the numerous lights on the Diamond Bridge created the first night of arrival in Busan and the moving words delivered by singer-songwriter Roh Young-sim who just hours ahead of the opening ceremony explained that she created "a song which will irradiate Festival Director Kim Dong-ho who poured his love (into the fest) for a long time for his dreams and the actors who are waiting back stage and waiting for their moment to become the main star," were felt precisely at the scene of the opening ceremony. And while the audiences reaction to the handsome and beautiful actors such as Won Bin and Son Ye-jin were that of enthusiastic cheering, what greeted Director Kim who was the symbol of the Pusan International Film Festival for the past 15 years and the director and cast of opening film "Under the Hawthorn Tree" was closer to honest applaud full of sincerity. That is why the moment the video of actors Uhm Jung-hwa, Moon Sori, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Nam-gil and Ye Ji-won singing overlapping with Yoon Gun singing live while playing the piano was more calming and heartfelt. Whether you are one of the people who will be in Busan for the next several days enjoying the various films and events, or whether you have not been able to make it but will still be enjoying it indirectly, what is important is that that moment will be about Busan.

Reporter : Lee Ga-on thirteen@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@