Soojeong Ahn(Ahn 2012, 101). The trend towards a project market is becoming increasingly visible as the
global film market becomes more competitive. Moreover, since the BIFF intensified its efforts
to be the hub of the Asian film industry, it has impacted neighboring markets. In 1999, a year
after the first APM, the Tokyo International Film Festival established the Tokyo Film Creators’
Forum, which included a project market to enable young filmmakers to apply for funding. The
Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), the project market that runs concurrently with
the HKIFF, was organized in 2000. The APM has triggered a series of events that have attracted
a number of international financiers, encouraged by the booming local film industries.
The BIFF’s decision to open a project market instead of just buying or selling completed films,
as happens at Cannes or the American Film Market, is substantial. It reflects a trend for festivals
to be more involved with their local and regional film industries, and more and more festivals
establish their own project markets. For example, alongside the European Film Market, the Berlin
International Film Festival also launched a parallel Co-production Market. Indeed, it is a response
to the shared needs of film industries and festivals, both of which are looking for more oppor-
tunities in an increasingly competitive global market. The APM, importantly, has even attempted
to brand its products in the name of Asian cinema, and has innovatively linked projects of the
APM with exhibitions at the BIFF. The roles of exhibitor and producer have been consolidated
at the BIFF by helping finance projects. The completed films, funded by the APM, provide the
BIFF with a secure supply of world premieres of Asian films, a good return on their support and
initial investment. However, the response of the filmmakers who benefited from APM funding
was not what the BIFF had hoped for. For example, although Platform (2000) was significantly
supported by the BIFF and IFFR, Jia Zhangke’s film received its world premiere at Venice, a
more influential festival than either Busan or Rotterdam. Platform would go on to be exhibited
at the Toronto International Film Festival, another major Western festival, before being included
in the non-competitive section of the Busan program: “A Window on Asian Cinema.” For Asian
filmmakers to choose prominent Western festivals over Busan reveals a complicated hierarchy of
both global film festivals and the relationship between festivals and filmmakers.
The BIFF’s consistent industry-oriented approach to the regional film industry was at its
height at its tenth anniversary. Following the successful establishment of APM, in 2005 the BIFF
was able to boast that a number of projects had been completed and showcased, including the
opening film Three Times (2005), six films shown in “A Window on Asian Cinema,” four films
presented in “New Currents,” and two films exhibited in other sections. This was testament to
the BIFF’s claim that it was now functioning as a dynamic marketplace and leading the regional
film industry. The tenth festival also saw the announcement of the inauguration of the trans-
national Asian Film Market. The proposed market, heavily subsidized by Busan city, was part of
a plan to turn Busan into a film and multimedia hub.^13
Through a notable appeal to pan-Asianism and anti-Hollywood sentiments, the APM has
attempted to generate regional solidarity and protect the Asian film industry from its American
counterpart. Even at the first APM in 1998, “Y2K,” an innovative transnational coproduction
project embracing Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, was announced. At the official press confer-
ence, renowned Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan stated, “We looked at the increasing domi-
nance of Hollywood and decided we had to change, to do something different. [...] We hope
this sets new standards and provides a model for the future” (Watts 1998, 143).
The establishment of the BIFF and APM was accompanied by the flourishing of the Asian
film industry. The success of most APM projects was helped by an increased interest in Asian
films worldwide, and the growth and development of Korean film boosted the APM’s prospects
of becoming the Asian film market hub. Hence, in terms of its deep engagement with the film
industry, the APM has received more attention than the BIFF itself during the festival period