Pusan's Asian Film Market (Oct 3-6) closed its third edition on Monday night, with most delegates agreeing it had felt like a quiet event, but many saying they had still found it productive.

Certainly there wasn't much foot traffic at the market, held for the first time on three floors of the Seacloud Hotel, and few deals were announced or reported. Market organisers said 4,640 participants - or 128 companies from 28 countries - attended the market and accompanying locations showcase BIFCOM. But it felt like much less.

One reason for the unfrenzied atmosphere was the fact that different elements of the market were spread across four hotels. In addition to sales rooms in the Seacloud, Pusan Promotion Plan was held at the Paradise Hotel, the Grand Hotel hosted some seminars and BIFCOM took place at the Novotel.

Meanwhile, the crowded autumn calendar is making it difficult for Pusan to pull buyers - MIPCOM starts next week (Oct 13-17) and Tokyo's TIFFCOM the week after (Oct 22-24). The global economic situation also seems to be having an impact in making buyers choosier about where they travel.

Most of the exhibiting companies were from Korea and Japan and there was also a Chinese delegation headed by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Radio and Television. Participation from South-East Asia was limited. Europe was strongly representedwith the UK Film Council and European Film Promotion (EFP) occupying five rooms in the market.

The Korean sellers seemed to agree that the market was better than they had expected. 'We had good reactions to the films we had in the festival but want to wait for AFM to see what kind of deals we can lock down,' said Studio2.0 head of international Choi Eun-Young.

Michelle Son of new Korean sales outfit M-Line Distribution said that the buyers list had definitely shrunk, although she still had lots of meetings:'But it's becoming more rare for buyers to sign here, because increasingly they want to see the finished product.'

For that reason, sellers were happy that the market is increasing the number of screenings - there were 46 screenings of 38 films over three days from Oct 3-5, including 21 market premieres.

Among Japanese sellers, Nikkatsu and TBS cited a lack buyers from other Asian territories, especially Hong Kong and Taiwan, resulting in less meetings. Some Asian buyers apparently opted out of Pusan to go to TIFFCOM, which has been aggressively pushing its market, now in its fifth year.

Phantom Film's Ai Inoue echoed this sentiment: '[Pusan] seems mainly geared toward Korean buyers, and not a lot from other territories. And nobody is doing pre-buys these days. It's a market to introduce new products.'

While Japanese stars such as Joe Odagiri could once ensure a pre-buy in Korea and big films like Sinking Of Japan did impressive business in the territory, buyers are now warier of picking up Japanese titles. Recent Japanese releases such as Shaolin Girl, Boys Over Flowers and 20th Century Boys, the latter two being major hits in Japan, earned lackluster numbers in Korea.

Speaking at the end of the market, Pusan festival and marketdirector Kim Dong-ho stressed that the Asian Film Market is not just about Korean titles: 'The local film industry may be weak right now, but the strength of the rest of the Asian film industries is what keeps our market afloat. And I'm sure there will be years in which it will be vice versa.'

Indeed, one of the hottest films at the market was a small-budget Taiwanese comedy, Cape No. 7, which has been a surprise hit in its own territory grossing more than $4m in Taipei alone.

WHAT THE DELEGATES SAID:

Jason Chae, Mirovision (Korea) - 'People have been complaining that the market is quiet and shrinking, but we were so busy that we couldn't agree with that.'

Asako Maki, Avex (Japan) - 'We had around 60 meetings, although probably 80% of them were with Korean companies. But it's hard to find new buyers.'

Gay Chwee Hwa, Media Development Authority (Singapore) - 'This year is a lot quieter than last year. I think it has to do with the location. It is very separated you feel less buzz.'

Geng Ling, producer on Zhu Wen's PPP project (China) - 'It seems very relaxed this year. I did not see a lot of people in the market.'

Kenneth Chang, Chinese Television System (Taiwan) - 'In terms of Chinese-language films, I did not see Da Pian [Chinese blockbusters] this year in the market. Last year there was Assembly and the year before there was Three Kingdoms: Resurrection Of The Dragon. But this year, there was very little from either China or Hong Kong.'

DEALS ANNOUNCED AT THE MARKET:

KOREA

Fine Cut sold Japanese rights to Daytime Drinking, directed by Noh Yeong-seok, to Eleven Arts.

Mirovision sold remake rights to Driving With My Wife's Lover, directed by Kim Tae-shik, to the US' Circle of Confusion.

CJ Entertainment had a busy market selling The Good, The Bad, The Weird, directed by Kim Ji-woon, to Celestial Pictures Limited (Hong Kong) and NonStop Entertainment (Sweden). Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine went to Rapid Eye (Germany). Arahan was also sold to NonStop Entertainment. Australian broadcaster SBS bought Once Upon A Time In High School, Hellcats, I Like It Hot, Fly High, Mission Possible: Kidnapping Granny and My Son. Radio Star, directed by Lee Jun-ik, sold to Fine Films (Japan), while The Divine Weapon went to Emphasis Video Entertainment for Hong Kong and China.

HONG KONG

Mei Ah Entertainment sold The Butterfly Lovers to United Video (Thailand), Splendid Film (Germany) and Vendeta Films (Australia).

JAPAN

TBS sold Tokyo Girl to Media Story (Korea) and Edko Films (Hong Kong)

US & EUROPE

Germany's Bavaria Entertainment sold Into Great Silence, directed by Philip Gronning, to Korea's JinJin Pictures.

Another German sales company, M-Appeal, sold Andrzej Jakimiwski's Tricks to Korea's Koral Pictures.

Argentina's FilmSharks sold The Photograph to SBS (Australia).

Jean Noh, Jason Gray and Sen-lun Yu contributed to this report.

Topics