‘Solo War 2’ ‘Yellow Gate’… 9 highly anticipated OTT films released

The Busan International Film Festival, which opened its doors to OTT (online video service) works for the first time among Asian film festivals in 2021, gave strength to ‘hosting OTT’ by providing a stage to unveil new works from various domestic and foreign OTTs this year. However, in a situation where there are rumors of a ‘theater crisis,’ some voices are expressing regret over the actions of film festivals that further solidify the influence of OTT.

As with last year, the film festival will introduce a total of 9 OTT works. The film festival, which was held despite negative factors such as various personnel-related noises and film festival budget cuts, screened 209 films (69 countries), which was 100 fewer films than last year when it introduced 353 films, maintained the number of OTT works.

Through ‘Korean Film Today – Special Premiere’, Netflix presents ‘Ballerina’, the second collaboration between directors Lee Chung-hyeon and Jeon Jong-seo, who became lovers through Cho Jin-woong and Han Hyo-joo’s ‘Solo Battle 2’ and the previous film ‘Call’. Additionally, in the ‘Wide Angle-Documentary Showcase’ section, ‘Yellow Door: Cinephile Diary of the End of the Century’ will also be screened. This is a documentary that depicts members of the film club ‘Yellow Door Film Institute’ recalling memories surrounding the first short film made by the young Bong Joon-ho in the early 1990s. It is also attracting the attention of overseas fans as it deals with the unreleased early work of director Bong, the world-famous master who created ‘Parasite’.

Disney+, TVING, and Wave each present new works in the ‘On Screen’ section, which screens some episodes of OTT’s original series, and each also holds side events such as open talks and outdoor stages. Disney+ has the action film ‘Vigilante’ starring Nam Joo-hyuk and Yoo Ji-tae, while TVING has Lee Sung-min and Yoo Yeon-seok’s thriller ‘Misdiagnosis Day’, Ahn Jae-hong and Lee Som’s couple comedy ‘LTNS’, and director Bong Joon-ho’s script for ‘Parasite’. Introducing ‘Running Mate’, the directorial debut of writer Han Jin-won. Wave presents the action thriller ‘Deal’ starring Yoo Seung-ho. Netflix Indonesia’s original series ‘Cigarette Girl’ will also be screened in this section.

In addition to introducing the work, its influence appears to have expanded further as the ‘2023 Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards’, an international OTT awards ceremony, will be held starting this year. This awards ceremony, hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT in cooperation with Busan City, will be held at the Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae-gu, Busan on the afternoon of the 8th.

Some people welcome the invitation of OTT film festivals in terms of the diversity of works, but some are disappointed with the actions of film festivals that are continuing to expand the influence of OTT, rather than theatrical films, at a time when theaters are facing a crisis due to a sharp decline in the number of audiences. There are also gazes. An official from a film production company met at the film festival said, “As the Busan International Film Festival is Asia’s representative film festival, it would have been better to focus more on events that revive theaters.”

Haeundae (Busan)｜Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com