Pusan International Film Festival ends on 'Happy' note

Asia's biggest film fest, the Pusan International Film Festival, closed on Friday with the world premiere of "I Am Happy", a love story between a patient and a nurse in a psychiatric ward by South Korean director Yoon Jong-chan.

The 13th edition of the festival screened a record 315 movies from 60 countries, with 85 world premieres and 95 Asian premieres. Thirty-seven screenings were used for 837 screenings in six cinemas across South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan (the film fest retain's the old spelling for the city) over the festival's nine-day run.

Attendance was the highest yet, up slightly over the previous year, with 198,818 attending.

Business was down at the festival's Asian Film Market, with 132 companies from 28 countries compared with last year's 460 companies from 50 nations, according to Bloomberg.

The festival's juried section, the New Currents Award, focuses on young filmmakers. Fourteen films were nominated for the prize this year. The jury was headed by French actress Anna Karina. Here's the winners:

- New Currents Award: "Land of Scarecrows" by Roh Gyeong-tae (South Korea), and "Naked of Defenses" by Ichii Masahide (Japan). Prize is US$30,000.

- New Currents Award special mentions: "Members of the Funeral" by Baek Seung-bin (South Korea), and "Er Dong" by Yang Jin (China).

- Sonje Award: "Andong" by Rommel Tolentino Milo (Philippines) and "Girl" by Hong Sunghoon (South Korea). Prize is $10,000.

- PIFF Mecenat Award: "Mental" by Soda Kazuhiro (Japan) and "Old Partner" by Lee Chung-ryoul (South Korea).

- Fipresci Award: "Jalainur" by Ye Zhao (China).

- NETPAC Award: "Members of the Funeral" by Baek Seung-bin (South Korea) and "Treeless Mountain" by Kim So-young (South Korea/US).

- KNN Movie Award: "100" by Chris Martinez (Philippines). This is an Audience Award and is a $20,000 prize.

The festival also has a film-funding workshop, the Pusan Promotion Plan, which selected 30 projects. Here are the PPP awards:

- Pusan Award: “Forget-Me-Not” by Ahmad Yasmin (Malaysia). Has a $20,000 prize.

- Kodak Award: “Poetry” by Lee Chang-dong (South Korea). Prize is $17,000 worth of negative stock.

- Busan Film Commission Award: “Executioner Garden” by Zhang Yuan (China). Prize is $8,000.

- Overseas Korean Foundation Prize: “A Brand New Life” by Ounie Lecomte (France). Prize is $8,000.

- Goteborg Film Festival Fund: “The Bride” by Mona Zandi (Iran). Prize is $17,000 in travel expenses.

- Wooridul Award: “Eugenia” by Jung Bum-sik (South Korea).

As the Pusan International Film Festival opened on October 2, a pall was cast over it by the suicide of actress Choi Jin-Sil, which sent shockwaves through the Korean entertainment industry. A host of Korean celebrities canceled their appearances in Busan.

Another down note was the overall state of the world's economy and the slumping South Korean film industry, with Korean Film Council chairman Karn Han-sup declaring the a "great depression".

And there were the usual technicial problems, with nine accidents in projections resulting in refunds and rescheduled screenings. Sound-system malfunctions were a hiccup at the opening ceremony, and a faulty generator prompted complaints at an outdoor screening. The logistics of attending films in far-flung venues that are an hour apart from each other was another complaint.

However, as the biggest film fest in Asia, PIFF drew international attention, being graced by such stars as Japanese actress Juri Ueno, Korean-American Hollywood actors Moon Bloodgood, James Kyson Lee and Aaron Yoo.

Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai graced the festival to screen his "Ashes of Time Redux", a re-edited version of his 1994 martial-arts drama.

Among the favorites was the blockbuster Korean western, "The Good, The Bad, The Weird."