The poster for Chinese director Jia Zhangke's latest film "Caught by the Tides" is displayed outside the Busan Cinema Center during the Busan International Film Festival, Oct. 7. Korea Times photo by Vanessa Cai
By Vanessa Cai
BUSAN — Chinese filmmakers have showcased their works in Korea as this year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) gathered movie fans from home and abroad during the 10-day festival, which will close on Friday.
Chinese director Jia Zhangke’s latest film “Caught by the Tides” was presented as one of the five selected for this year’s Gala Presentation section. Jia said he had been missing the Korean film festival as it was where his film career began, when his 1997 feature debut "Xiao Wu" won the festival's New Currents Award, which recognizes emerging Asian directors.
“In 1998, at the third Busan International Film Festival, I brought my film ‘Xiao Wu’ to Busan. Over the years, I often reminisce about moments spent in Busan, gathering with fellow Asian directors to discuss films and build friendships,” he said at a press conference held on Saturday.
His latest film uses footage compiled since 2001, presenting changes in Chinese society over the past two decades. Jia said he felt the need to start editing the footage during the first few months into the pandemic.
“It seemed like an era was coming to an end, and the material we shot serves as a record of that past time,” he said.
“On the other hand, a new way of life was about to begin. The pandemic brought the world to a standstill, while at the same time, technology was rapidly advancing. We are on the verge of transitioning from the internet age to the age of artificial intelligence, and it feels like our ways of living and the world itself are in the process of being reshaped. With these thoughts in mind, I started editing the film.”
Chinese director Jia Zhangke speaks during a press conference at the Culture Hall of Shinsegae Department Store's Centum City branch in Busan, Oct. 5. Courtesy of BIFF
The film, which premiered in Cannes' main competition last May, also attracted many movie fans from China who are familiar with Jia’s previous works during its screenings in Busan. The timing of the Busan film festival matches a seven-day holiday that started on Oct. 1 in China, which allowed many movie fans to travel to Korea.
“Many segments in this film don’t have direct connections, but when we watch the entire piece, we find that it represents the essence of the era we’ve experienced. They may not be linked by a causal relationship, but they influence each other,” Jia told the audience after one screening.
“It’s like looking at the night sky: We see individual stars that seem isolated, but when we look at the whole, we realize it forms the starry sky, the universe.”
Meanwhile, other Chinese filmmakers’ works were also showcased during the film festival.
The New Currents section’s presentation of 10 films included “As the River Goes By” from Chinese director Charles Hu, and “Montages of a Modern Motherhood” by Oliver Siu Kuen Chan from Hong Kong, which portrays the struggles of a new mother. The competition section also featured the first Japanese film of Chinese director Du Jie, “The Height of the Coconut Trees.”
Hu, who had the world premiere of his feature-length directorial debut in BIFF, told the audience after one screening that the work was written during the pandemic, and one source of inspiration for his film came from his hometown.
“The river in my hometown runs through the entire city, playing a significant role in my upbringing. And I believe that many of the characters’ relationships and connections in the film are intertwined through this river,” he said.
BIFF’s Asian short films competition also featured Chinese film “Lao San,” which revolves around a boy named Erguang in a rural village in northeastern China, and reflected a bigger picture of the region’s economic slowdown and population outflow over the past decades.
Renowned filmmaker Wang Bing’s two chapters of his trilogy of films “Youth” were showcased alongside other contemporary iconic filmmakers.
The section of “A Window on Asian Cinema” has featured several works from Chinese filmmakers, including the world premiere of Chinese filmmaker Song Jinxiao’s third feature film “Blue Sea,” and director Jiang Xiaoxuan’s feature debut “To Kill a Mongolian Horse,” which was made in Inner Mongolia about lives of Mongolians.
Alongside the films presented, Hong Kong director Ann Hui, who won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2020, visited Busan to give a master class, a section which also featured Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes.
Hong Kong director Ann Hui speaks during her master class at the Busan International Film Festival, Oct. 3. Courtesy of BIFF
Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu, who debuted with famed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s 2010 film “Under the Hawthorn Tree,” and received several awards for best actress, is one of the jury members for the New Currents competition section.
Vanessa Cai is a reporter with the South China Morning Post. She is currently based in Seoul, reporting for both The Korea Times and the South China Morning Post under an exchange program.
