PiFan opens with inaugural Producers’ Choice award

Members of the Korean Film Producers Association (KFPA) and the Producers Guild of Korea (PGK) voted them the actor and actress of the year.

Ha Jung-woo was most recently seen in the gritty Nameless Gangster: Rules Of The Game and Ha Ji-won was in the sports drama As One. The producers lauded them for their acting skills, box office power and impressive recent filmographies, as well as their potential to strengthen genre films in Korea along with PiFan.

The festival opens tonight with the world premiere of Korean omnibus Horror Stories and will screen 230 features from 47 countries. PiFan has 51 world premieres and 19 international premieres this year.

The festival’s Puchon Choice Feature Film Award jury is headed by director Kim Sung Hong, Youngjoo Suh, Hiroki Ryuichi, Marcello Alderete and Sten Saluveer. The festival runs July 19-29 with the awards ceremony on July 27.

Guests on the red carpet included actors Michelle Chen, Park Hae-il, Otani Ryohei, Kang Soo-yeon and Ahn Sung-ki; producer Jaime Shim whose Myung Film is getting a retrospective, and directors Im Kwon-taek, Kim Gok and Kim Sun. Although previously announced to attend, Hollywood actor Chris Noth cancelled due to family health issues.