2nd
PUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Presents
EARLY ASIAN CINEMA: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH ASIA’S PAST
Early Works from India, Japan, China, Indonesia and Korea

Seminar: The Beginnings and Development of Early Asian Film

Objective:

Until recently, the active exchange of film culture between Asian countries has been marginal, thereby limiting the range of research and archival work. In addition to the problem areas of preservation, restoration of prints, and unsystematic research, the irretrievable loss of extant material related to early Asian film is of pressing concern. Accordingly, this seminar seeks to promote greater understanding of the early cinemas of Asia, and to place emphasis on the value of finding and preserving early film resources.

Panelists:

China: STANLEY KWAN (Guan Jinpeng) was born in Hong Kong in 1957. After studying in the Department of Communications at Baptist College he joined the television station TVB as a trainee actor, but soon moved on to working in production. He found himself working as assistant to several of the young directors who went on to establish the “new wave” in Hong Kong cinema (including Ann Hui, Yim Ho, Patrick Tam, Ronnie Yu and Leong Po-Chih) and joined them when they moved from television to film production. He directed his own first feature in 1984, but continued working occasionally as an assistant on such films as Tony Au’s The Last Affair  and Jackie Chan’s Armour of God . He has been a full-time director since 1986. His film Actress (aka Centre Stage ) won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival in 1992. He is also the director of the documentary Yin and Yang: Gender in Chinese Cinema ).

India: P.K. NAIR was born in Trivandrum, Kerala, India in 1933. He worked in Film and Television Institute of India between 1961 and 1965. He joined the National Film Archive of India in 1965 and went on to head NFAI for three decades. Has been a member of the Executive Committee of International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) for three consecutive terms from 1983 to 1989. He has published several research papers on Indian Cinema, Film History, Film Theory. He serves as Visiting Faculty at Film Television Institute of India. At present he is working on the Feasibility Study Project for UNESCO for setting up Film Restoration Facility Centre in Asian Region.

Japan: SATO TADAO was born in 1930. He has written more than one hundred books. He completed The History Of Japanese Motion Picture  last year. Major books about Asian films include Study of Korean Movie and Movie City Shanghai . In 1989 he and his wife Hisako Sato won the Kawakita Prize for their contribution to international exchange through movies. In recognition of the contribution to Japanese cinema, Mr. Sato was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1996. He is currently Director of Focus on Asia: Fukuoka International Film Festival. Mr. Sato is recipient of this year’s PIFF’s Korean Cinema Award for his contributions to introducing Korean film to the international community of cinema.

Korea: LEE YOUNG-IL is a veteran literary and film critic with numerous publications, including the book The History of Korean Cinema . Other books include Introduction to Film , Critical Biography of Korean Filmmakers , Selection of World Masterpiece Scenarios , and Comic Genius: Chaplin . He has also authored books of poetry. His career has included Chief of Cultural Dept. at Pyong-Hwa Daily, founding president of the Korea chapter of FIPRESCI. He has won awards for his literary and film criticism.

Moderator:

CHRIS BERRY is a lecturer in Cinema Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and is currently a Visiting Lecturer in the School of Cinema and Television at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul, where he is teaching Chinese Cinema. He is the Australian representative of NETPAC. He is the editor of Perspectives on Chinese Cinema  (British Film Institute, 1992).

Discussants:

KYUNG HYUN KIM is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at University of California, Irvine. He is also completing a Ph.D. dissertation provisionally titled, “New Korean Cinema: the Cultural Pursuit of Decolonization, Democratization, and Modernization” at USC School of Cinema-Television, Critical Studies Division. He has published articles on Korean culture and cinema both in English and in Korean. His teaching areas include subjects on Korean cinema, East Asian cultures, and film/cultural studies.

RAY EDMONDSON is the Deputy Director of the National Film and Sound Archive in Australia. He has been with the National Library of Australia since 1968. He has been active in related organizations, such as the Australian Council of Government Film Libraries, Music Roll Australia, and the Australian Centenary of Cinema (in each of which he was foundation chair). He is currently President of South East Asia Pacific Audio Visual Archive Association, and also active in UNESCO, a member of Memory of the World International Advisory Committee, FIAF and IASA, and coordinates the AV Archiving Philosophy Interest Network (AVAPIN).