Netflix’s period war drama Uprising, produced by renowned filmmaker Park Chan-wook, has opened the Busan International Film Festival, marking the first time a streaming title kicks off Asia’s largest film event. The decision has sparked mixed reactions.
Netflix’s period war drama, produced by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, opened Asia’s largest film festival on Wednesday—the first time a streaming title has kicked off the event. Directed by Kim Sang-man and featuring Korean megastar Gang Dong-won in a lead role, Uprising is one of 224 official entries at this year’s Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which runs until October 11.
The film has attracted significant attention ahead of its world premiere, thanks largely to the involvement of Park, best known for ultra-violent thrillers like 2003’s Oldboy, which played a key role in bringing South Korean cinema to the global forefront. Park served as a screenwriter and producer on Uprising, a story set during Korea’s Joseon Dynasty about two friends who grow up together but become enemies when war breaks out.
“I believed it was a work that could appeal to the public (the most) among all the (BIFF) opening films in history,” Park Do-shin, the festival’s acting director, said of the choice.
Streaming-only content, like Netflix’s Squid Game and the Apple TV+ series Pachinko, has contributed to a significant surge in the global visibility of Korean and Korean diaspora stories in recent years. Busan’s 2024 lineup reflects how such content has become an “important part of our culture,” BIFF programmer Jung Han-seok noted.
Unveiled to the press prior to the opening ceremony, Uprising is a war flick that occasionally leans into the realm of gore while exploring whether human bonds can truly transcend class and division. According to organizers, around 4,500 guests attended the opening ceremony at the Busan Cinema Center, where stars like Lee Jung-jae, Gang Dong-won, Song Joong-ki, and Kim Min-ha were greeted by fans as they walked the red carpet.
Why Streaming?
The decision to open this year’s edition with a major streaming title has sparked criticism within South Korea’s cinema community, as BIFF has long been dedicated to supporting emerging talents in Asia as well as small-scale, independent films.
“I find it disappointing that a streaming title was selected as the opening film,” Kay Heeyoung Kim, who owns the film studio K-Dragon, told AFP. “The challenges confronting the theater-based physical film market and filmmakers can be partly attributed to the streaming platforms.”
Other critics argue that streaming content diminishes the cinematic experience that is best enjoyed on the big screen in theaters. However, Uprising’s director Kim said, “We need to examine such controversy. Shouldn’t we consider whether a film must always adhere to specific screening conditions?” he asked during a press conference ahead of the opening ceremony.
This year’s edition also comes as organizers grapple with the fallout from former festival director Huh Moon-yung, who resigned last year amid accusations of sexual misconduct. The director position remains vacant. The South Korean government’s budget for supporting film festivals, including BIFF, was also slashed by half this year.
Despite these setbacks, the 29th edition is presenting about 15 more films than last year, with 86 world premieres.
Award Winners
BIFF will posthumously honor South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun by screening six of his films and television works, including Parasite, Our Sunhi (2013), and a portion of the TV series My Mister (2018). Best known globally for his role in Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning Parasite (2019), Lee was found dead in an apparent suicide last year after a two-month investigation into suspected drug use, which sparked public outrage over what many perceived as excessive police interrogation.
Meanwhile, filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa, best known for his contributions to the Japanese horror genre, will receive the festival’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year award. Kurosawa is showcasing two new films at BIFF this year: the violent thriller Cloud and Serpent’s Path, a French-language remake of his 1998 film of the same name.
BIFF also awarded its first Camellia Award, along with the French fashion house Chanel, to acclaimed South Korean production designer Ryu Seong-hie. This award, created to honor women in the cinema industry, recognized Ryu’s work. “When I first started my career, there weren’t many female production designers, and genre films were considered a male domain,” Ryu said after receiving the prize. “I wanted to prove that genre films made by women can also be creative, intense, rough, and terrifying.”
BIFF’s industry platform, the Asian Contents and Film Market, will host a conference focused on the integration of AI in content production—a hot-button issue currently making waves in Hollywood.
With AFP
