Dialogue with the audience as a priority in South Korea

by Luciana Dolabella

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A total 349 events and meetings for audiences were organized in different places and with different goals over 10 days during the Busan International Film Festival, in South Korea. The festival proves to be one of the most dedicated in the world approaching cinema and the audiences in great exchanges about the films and the cinematic experience. Directors and actors from the films and series screened at the festival, as well as Korean and Asian talents, personalities and awardees present in Busan, interact with thousands of very interested and engaged citizens on open air theaters, cinemas, auditoriums and cultural spaces.

Pictures: © Busan International Film Festival

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Many film festivals in the world have events with the possibility of exchange with the audiences, but Busan Film Festival brings this concept to another level with the number of possibilities and formats. Most of the events in 2024 are in Korean, some have translations into English. This year's festival was attended by a overall of 889 international guests and more than 2,000 Korean guests from the film industry. Many have been involved with dialogues with audiences.

Open Talks and Outdoor Greetings

Some of the most valuable events organized by the Busan International Film Festival are the so-called “Open Talks” and “Outdoor Greetings”. In these, famous directors and actors in Korea and Asia are interviewed about their films and series that are being presented at the festival with very dynamic and entertaining moderation. In 2024, the festival organized 25 face-to-face events in these formats, which are free of charge and take place over nine consecutive days on the large outdoor stage in the festival's main publishing complex.

Pictures: © Busan International Film Festival

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Each film is represented by its director and main cast. The “Open talks” last longer than the “Outdoor Greetings”. The audience starts arriving at the open theater very early to reserve a seat and wait for many hours for the open-air interview with the Asian celebrities. When the celebrities enter and leave the stage, there can be a bit of a commotion from fans, but during the interviews the audience participates in a very respectful way, without rioting, shouting or any other unfriendly gestures. These events are attended by thousands of citizens every day.

Among the celebrities who took part in these interviews, some are now known worldwide, such as actors Song Joong-Ki and Kwon Hae-hyo, who talked about the adventures of filming the feature film “Bogotá, the lost city” in Colombia, a Netflix movie. They both commented on how much they enjoyed filming in Latin America and, on stage, they tried to speak a few words and phrases in Spanish. These formats are made in Korean.

The “Open Talks” and “Outdoor Meetings” of the films and series screened at the festival are attended by thousands of citizens with an entertaining moderation and unformal atmosphere.

Pictures: © Busan International Film Festival

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Actor´s House

This is a special format of the Busan Film Festival. Actors with long careers in film, theater and K-Dramas are interviewed in front of an audience. There are four sessions of interviews each year, each with one actor. The interviews take place in a closed auditorium, and one has to buy a ticket for them, just like for the movie screenings. These actors are not necessarily connected to a film in the festival this year, they come to the Busan Festival especially for this interview in front of the public. For 90 minutes they talk about different moments in their careers, films, series, experiences and future plans. This format has already seen the participation of actress Yoon Yeo-jeong, the Korean actress who won the Oscar in 2020 for the film “Minari”. In 2024, the actors invited to these events were Sul Kyung-gu ("Memories of a Murder"), Park Boyoung ("Strong Woman Do Bong Soon"), Hwang Jung-min (I, the Executioner) and Chun Woo-hee ("The atypical family").

The Actor´s House has every year 4 special guests sharing many moments of their careers and audience in one of the theaters of the festival on a very interesting and dynamic interview.

Pictures: © Busan International Film Festival

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Master Classes, Guest Visits and other face-to-face events

A popular format at many festivals is the dialogue with the audience after the screening of a film. Audience dialog events are special for both the audience and the makers of a film or series. In the case of international films, this is a unique opportunity to get to know a little more about that country and the work of that film. In the case of national films, it's a unique opportunity to get to know how Korean crews work in front of and behind the camera.

In Busam there were 303 screenings of films and series at the festival, with directors, actors and crew present to talk to the audience. Beyond all the formats listed above audience has the possibility of participating of other face-to-face talks with awardees, like the one with art director Ryu Seong-rie, with international guests like the Portuguese director Miguel Gomez or in special homages, such as the one prepared this year for actor Lee Sun-kyun (actor from the film “Parasite”).

There are 303 screenings pointed with “Guest Visit” at the program. They count with the presence of international and national guests. Other events with special guests are also organized to increase the dialogue possibility with participants of the festival.

If today many people around the world are wondering how to bring audiences back to cinemas, the Busan International Film Festival's commitment to dialogues with citizens certainly show some ways. These events show their commitment to cinema, the cinematic experience and to the audience, democratizing access to information and bringing people closer to film as an important reflecting and socializing event.

Pictures: © Busan International Film Festival