Category Archives: Film

Now entering into its 18th year, the Busan International Film Festival – beginning today, Thursday, October 3, and running through Saturday, October 12 – has established itself as Asia’s premier film event. Supporting the work of Korean filmmakers while also offering an expansive view of the rest of Asia, the event draws many US and European programmers seeking new work from the region. Local audiences are well-served with an international lineup that highlights titles that have made a splash at some of the other major festivals around the world, from Cannes to Venice to Toronto. Just under 300 films are in this year’s lineup, with only 10% of those being documentaries, including Gianfranco Rosi’s surprise Venice winner, SACRO GRA, an intimate exploration of Rome’s large ring road and those living alongside it. The following is a sampling of the most intriguing new nonfiction on offer in the festival’s Wide Angle section.

Eleven titles vie in Busan’s Documentary Competition, part of the Wide Angle section, including: Aya Hanabusa’s TALE OF A BUTCHER SHOP (pictured), a profile of a Japanese family butcher business, from slaughter to sales; Baby Ruth Villarama’s JAZZ IN LOVE, a portrait of a crosscultural gay marriage between a young Filipino and a middle-aged German; Tiong Guan Saw’s PAST PRESENT, following director Tsai Ming-liang’s revisitation of his past and how it informs his filmmaking; Lyam Kim’s DREAM HOUSE BY THE BORDER, an exploration of the impact of Korea’s split between North and South as reflected in people’s homes; and Sung-bong Cho’s GUREOMBI – THE WIND IS BLOWING, chronicling the resistance of Jeju Islanders to a planned military base.

The Wide Angle section also hosts the fest’s other main collection of nonfiction, Documentary Showcase. Of the seventeen titles here, some of the new or lesser-known include: Hong-Ki Lee’s SPLENDID BUT SAD DAYS (pictured), a portrait of the harsh life of a foulmouthed seventy-year-old fisherwoman; Xiaolu Guo’s LATE AT NIGHT – VOICES OF ORDINARY MADNESS, a look at disenfranchised and marginal residents of London’s East End as they face gentrification; Tonislav Hristov’s SOUL FOOD STORIES, an exploration of Bulgaria through a food-focused microcosm; Lu Zhang’s SCENERY, profiling the experiences of immigrant workers in Korea; and Hojae Lee’s LAZY HITCHHIKERS’ TOUR DE EUROPE, following shiftless Korean college dropouts as they travel abroad for a year.

Upstate New York’s “fiercely independent” film event, the Woodstock Film Festival, turns 14 this year. Opening today, Wednesday, October 2, the fest runs through this Sunday, October 6, unspooling over 125 films during its run. Of these, more than fifty are features, and about half of those are documentaries. The following highlights a selection of titles I haven’t previously covered here.

A couple of titles making their world premiere at the festival this year are Joe Berlinger’s HANK: FIVE YEARS FROM THE BRINK (pictured), a portrait of the former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson and how he weathered the 2008 economic crisis; and Aram Garriga’s AMERICAN JESUS, an expansive survey of the influence of evangelical Christianity on American culture. Dana Ben-Ari’s BREASTMILK, an exploration of the challenges and misconceptions around breastfeeding, makes its North American bow; while Alex Stonehill and Bradley Hutchinson’s BARZAN, about an Iraqi refugee caught up in charges of terrorism, has its East Coast premiere here.

Among Woodstock’s New York premieres are Haskell Wexler’s FOUR DAYS IN CHICAGO, chronicling protests against last year’s NATO Summit in the Windy City; Sierra Pettengill and Jamila Wignot’s TOWN HALL, a portrait of two Tea Party activists in the lead-up to last year’s presidential election; Rob Kuhns’ BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD, a history and tribute to George Romero’s cult classic zombie film; and Jeremy Workman’s MAGICAL UNIVERSE (pictured), the story of the director’s unique relationship with an outsider artist whose muse is Barbie.