Bucheon Int’l Fantastic Festival to run from July 12 to 22

The 22nd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, which will be held from July 12 to 22, will introduce films of various genres this summer. In particular, it features many “Bollywood” movies, which are said to be produced more than Hollywood movies. We asked this year’s programmers to recommend some good films to watch.

First pick by programmer Kim Bong-seok is an Indian film “Bhavesh Joshi Superhero.” Unlike other Bollywood movies that are full of dancing and singing, this film is an Indian version of American superhero movies. Joshi and his friends call themselves “Indian Justice League” and challenge the corrupt government. “The film depicts passionate young people, who are torn between leading their own lives and realizing social justice,” said Kim. The closing film will be another Indian film “Secret Superstar,” which stars Aamir Khan from the movie “Dangal.”

The audience will get a chance to see a new trend in Japanese movies, which are said to be in a slump recently. The festival will feature some Japanese movies that are called the “new wave of Japanese movies.” “The Hungry Lion” portrays women victims of hidden cameras in a composed manner and “The Sacrament” shows cinematic imagination of the YouTube generation. Expectations are high on new attempts by young Japanese directors as can be seen in the film “One Cut of the Dead,” which creatively uses the cliché of the existing zombie movies.

Among Japanese movies, Kim recommended “The Blood of Wolves” by director Kazuya Shiraish, one of the most active directors in Japan now. “The movie is about a rookie detective, who struggles in Hiroshima, the city on the brink of a war between yakuza. This masterpiece shows a new level of yakuza movies.”

Another programmer Kim Young-deok recommended “Knife+Heart,” which was premiered in Competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Vanessa Paradis played a gay porn producer who is devastated by her lover’s betrayal. “The film mixed elements of camp and slasher in the 1970s. It is the ultimate minor movie with attractive soundtrack,” Kim said. The movie “November” is about an Estonian folk tale. This black-and-white film was selected as the Estonian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

Also drawing the attention is a special exhibition of Korean movies. A filmography of the Korean actor Jung Woo-sung will be exhibited under the title, “Star, Actor and Artist Jung Woo-sung.” A total of 12 works of Jung, including “Beat,” “City of the Rising Sun,” “Asura,” “Cold Eyes” and “Steel Rain” will be introduced. In the “3X3 EYES: Eyes of the three horror-meister” section, early works of horror-meister Wes Craven, George Romero and Tobe Hooper that were not premiered on screen will be showcased.


Min Kim kimmin@donga.com