Netflix’s ‘Rise’ will open Asia’s largest film festival in Busan, sparking debate on streaming’s impact on cinema

SEOUL, Oct. 2 — South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s period war drama on Netflix will open Asia’s largest film festival today, marking the first time the event has launched a streaming event.

Directed by Kim Sang-man and starring Korean megastar Gang Dong-won, Rise is one of 224 official entries for this year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which runs until October 11.

The film attracted a lot of attention before its world premiere, mainly due to the involvement of Park, best known for extremely violent thrillers such as 2003’s “Old Boy”, which played a key role in bringing South Korean cinema to the forefront globally.

Park was the screenwriter and producer of the film AFP pic, which tells a story from the Korean Joseon dynasty about two friends who grow up together, but when war breaks out in the country, they become enemies.

“I thought it was the work that could appeal to audiences (the most) of all (BIFF) opening films in history,” Park Do-shin, the festival’s acting director, told reporters.

Streaming-only content like Netflix Squid game and the Apple TV+ series Pachinko have contributed to a significant increase in the global visibility of Korean history and the Korean diaspora in recent years.

Busan’s 2024 lineup reflects how this content has become “an important part of our culture,” said BIFF programmer Jung Han-seok.

Why streaming?

The decision to open this year’s edition with a major streaming title, however, sparked criticism within the South Korean cinema community, as BIFF has long supported emerging talent in Asia as well as small-scale independent films.

“I’m disappointed that a streaming title was chosen as the opening film,” Kay Heeyoung Kim, owner of K-Dragon film studio, told AFP.

“The challenges facing the physical film market and theatrical filmmakers can be partially attributed to streaming platforms.”

This year’s edition also comes at a time when organizers are still struggling with the consequences of the decision of former festival director Huh Moon-yung, who resigned last year amid sexual harassment allegations. The position of director remains vacant.

The South Korean government’s budget to support film festivals, including BIFF, was also cut in half this year.

Despite these failures, this year’s 29th edition will present about 15 more films than last year – according to the organizers – with 86 world premieres.

Award winners

BIFF will posthumously honor South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun by screening six of his films and TV movies, including Parasite, Our Sunhi (2013) and some TV series My lord (2018).

Best known around the world for his starring role in Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 Oscar-winning film ParasiteLee was found dead last year of an apparent suicide after a two-month investigation into suspected drug use that sparked public outrage over what many saw as excessive police questioning.

Meanwhile, director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, best known for his contributions to the Japanese horror genre, will receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award at the festival, joining the ranks of previous winners such as Hong Kong legends Tony Leung and Chow Yun Fat.

The Japanese director will present two of his new films at BIFF this year: a brutal thriller Cloud AND The Path of the Serpenta French-language remake of his 1998 film of the same name.

Other notable world premieres include: RM: Right people, wrong placea documentary about Kpop sensation BTS member RM and the making of his second solo album.

Drama by Singaporean director Eric Khoo Spirit Worldin which French screen icon Catherine Deneuve will play the legendary singer who visits Tokyo to mourn the loss of her dog, will close the festival.

BIFF’s industry platform, Asian Contents and Film Market, will host a conference on the integration of artificial intelligence in content production – currently a hot topic in Hollywood.

The event will be attended by companies including South Korea’s CJ ENM, Chinese VOD service iQIYI and Microsoft. —AFP