The Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) is welcoming back local and international guests for this 18th edition, running October 7-10 alongside Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
This is despite a series of high-level resignations at BIFF and ACFM, including the departure of market director Oh Seok Geun just three months before the start of the industry event.
“Preparations are going smoothly and our team leaders have been with ACFM for more than 10 years,” says Seri Park, who was named ACFM general manager in April after working at the market for a decade. “The festival acting directors [Nam Dong-chul and Kang Seung-ah] cover the market too, so we are fine. A new market director will be appointed after the completion of this year’s BIFF.”
ACFM is anchored by a record 10 national stands, with some of the biggest including the Korean Film Council (Kofic), which celebrates its 50th anniversary, European Film Promotion, Taiwan Creative Content Agency and the Thailand Pavilion. Austria, Kyrgyzstan and Indonesia are setting up shop with their first national pavilions at the market.
“As a nation of stories, Indonesia offers millions of fantasies to the world,” says Hilmar Farid, director general of culture from the territory’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. “This is the government’s position as a facilitator for Indonesian filmmakers to speak to the world.”
The Indonesian pavilion will be a hive of activity for 16 sales and production companies, including Indonesiana TV, KawanKawan Media, Tala Media and Visinema Pictures. Ten features are being presented at market screenings including Fajar Nugros’s romantic thriller Sleep Call, which stars Berlinale award-winner Laura Basuki, and Rahabi Mandra’s upcoming drama Gampang Cuan. Panel discussions dedicated to Indonesia are also being held.
Korean contingent
In addition to the Korean pavilion installed by Kofic, Korea is well represented by the individual sales booths lined up by 24 key local companies. Among them, K-Movie Entertainment, which is behind blockbuster franchise The Roundup, and Contents Panda (Smugglers) make their presence felt in larger booths, while Barunson E&A, Plus M Entertainment and Kitschs Film take part as exhibitors for the first time.
New this year, the Rising Films International Awards is a production investment programme aimed at supporting independent Korean feature films. Taiwan-based production company Rising Films has pre-selected five Korean projects, which take part in pitch sessions during ACFM. One winning project will receive $750,000 (krw1bn) for its production budget and the completed film will receive its world premiere at BIFF in 2024.
Coming under the umbrella of ACFM is the regular Asian Project Market (APM, which will showcase 30 in-development projects from 13 countries this year), networking event Platform Busan, conferences and Busan Story Market, which was relaunched last year as the world’s first IP content sales market, covering books, webtoons, web novels and video games. It makes ACFM “the first and only marketplace that incorporates films and original IPs”, according to ACFM’s Park.
Formerly known as Entertainment Intellectual Property Market (E-IP Market), Busan Story Market presents 30 Korean IPs and 20 non-Korean Asian IPs from Taiwan, Japan and Indonesia. However, the Asian Contents Awards is run independently by the Ministry of Science and ICT this year as the event has expanded into the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards.
As of mid-September, ACFM had recorded registrations of 338 buyers from 27 countries and 73 sales booths from 246 companies — up on the same period last year. While the market returned fully in-person last year, it has maintained an online platform post-Covid, but significantly fewer visitors have opted for the online component this year.
“We still need personal interactions even if we found other ways during the pandemic,” says Park.
US sales presence
US-based sales agent Magnolia Pictures International is making its first trip back to the Korean event since the pandemic. “I was at Hong Kong Filmart earlier this year and this will be our first time back to Busan since 2019, so it’s exciting,” says Magnolia’s international sales manager Austin Kennedy.
“There are obviously more ways to connect now,” he adds, “but there is something about being present and being able to have those face-to-face conversations — establishing relationships and meeting new people.”
At AFCM, he brings to Asian buyers Selman Nacar’s Hesitation Wound, fresh from playing in Venice’s Horizons section, Elena Escura’s feature debut Mara’s Vacation and Rodrigo Moreno’s Cannes hit The Delinquents, which has its Asian premiere at BIFF.
“We are also growing our team and looking for projects earlier on,” Kennedy says. “Covering the Asian Project Market in-person is much more useful.”
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