[News] PiFan at Rotterdam: An Interview with Key PiFan Officials.

could take from PiFan.

The official poster of the 16th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. [PiFan]

[News] PiFan at Rotterdam: An Interview with Key PiFan Officials.

Cr. - kstar10

While the Rotterdam International Film Festival is one of the foremost independent film fests in the world, one festival in Korea, the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival [PiFan] is striving to become a global name in the genre film scene.

The two film events could not be more different; Rotterdam, taking place in deep winter in the Netherlands, is a serious, somber affair for cinephiles, while PiFan, which happens in the satellite city of Pucheon in the heat of summer, is fun, ditzy and even crazy at times. What the two share, though, is a pure, unhindered passion for cinema.

TenAsia English met two key PiFan officials, Jongseok Thomas Nam, Managing Director of Network of Asian Fantastic FIlms [NAFF] and Jin Park, Head of Programming at PiFan in Rotterdam.

Jongseok Thomas Nam, Managing Director of NAFF, Pucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. [TenAsia/ Nemo Kim]

[Interview with Jongseok Thomas Nam, Managing Director, NAFF]

Tell us about what you do at PiFan.

Nam: I`m a wanderer. (laugh) I work as NAFF managing director and NAFF stands for Network of Asian Fantastic Films. It`s an industry program which PiFan started back in 2008.

What are you doing here at the Rotterdam Film Festival?

Nam: I`m here to be involved in networking with European film financiers and producers. NAFF is currently planning a huge program which will involve European partners and it`s set to start this year.

That sounds very exciting. Is it something new?

Nam: Yes, it`s new and it`s still in a development stage, so I can`t reveal too much at this point in time but rest assured that it will be a great platform for PiFan and it will definitely put PiFan`s name on the world film scene once it happens.

Tell us what you can at this point in time.

Nam: It`s to do with pre-production and production and it will make it possible for more European countries to take part in interesting Asian and Korean film projects. There will be two major organizations from Europe who will form a partnership with NAFF to select projects and they will provide most of the expenses as well.

Is it going to be quite similar to the "Ties That Bind" program at the Busan International Film Festival? That project brings together producers from Europe and Asia.

Nam: Yes, it`s something quite similar but there will be more interesting genre projects, so our project will be more specialized. We`ll be sure to give you more detail in March.

Jin Park, Head of Programming at Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. [TenAsia/ Nemo Kim]

[Interview with Jin Park, Head of Programming, PiFan]

Tell us about what you do at PiFan.

Park: I`m head of programming and I supervise the festival`s program and all the films that we screen.

That sounds like a position full of responsibilities. Tell us about what you`re doing here at the Rotterdam FIlm Festival.

Park: I`m here to select European and South American films, mostly world premieres here at the festival. I`m really happy to see many innovative and fresh films by young talents this year.

You`ve been coming to this festival for some time now.

Park: Yes, I`ve been coming to Rotterdam since 2008.

What do you like about this festival in Rotterdam?

Park: PiFan is an event which focuses on genre films but the spirit of PiFan is all about going beyond boundaries. So, we`re constantly looking to show cutting-edge films, films that are trying something new. It`s always great to introduce such films to Korean audiences. Rotterdam has been famous for introducing cutting-edge films and that is why I`ve been coming here for some years now. I`m trying to find new, different genre films here.

Do you think the two festivals could learn from each other in any way?

Park: PiFan has a lot to learn from Rotterdam as the latter is much older than our event but maybe Rotterdam could take some of our "craziness."  We at PiFan are always trying our best to make filmmakers as well as audiences go as crazy as they can. Maybe that`s something that Rotterdam could take from PiFan.