InterviewApollonian and Dionysian spirits spreading through soju bombs — and dreams

Kim Dong-ho, the founding festival director of Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), poses during an event to mark publication of his two memoirs in Seoul, Oct. 25, 2024. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Father of the Korean film festival, the first festival executive director of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), vice minister of culture and public affairs, the first president of the Seoul Arts Center and a film director: This is Kim Dong-ho, 88, a man with a generous smile.

Adjacent to Paldang Lake in Gyeonggi Province, in a room that is like a cross between a small museum and library, outside the thick glass window, birds were flying freely in the sky. A long, waist-high bookshelf is lined front to back with books, trophies and photos of familiar movie stars. The walls are covered with plaques of appreciation and awards from around the world.

I sat down with Kim in his office to hear the story of how he founded and developed K-cinema. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche writes: “for art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable — intoxication.” Kim secured Busan’s reputation as a hub of culture and film with Dionysian passion and intoxication.

A scene from "Walking in the Movies," a documentary about Busan International Film Festival's founding director, Kim Dong-ho / Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

Lights of Busan: refugee’s dream

Lee: The last time I called you, you were in Cannes. When I saw you at the Cannes Film Festival before, you were always on stage with Korean movie stars, but this time, you received a standing ovation for a documentary film about your life, "Walking in the Movies." You spent 30 years as a cultural administrator and 36 years as a filmmaker, and later recklessly ventured into the film industry and took on roles as an actor, cinematographer and director.

Kim: At a bar one night, actor Park Joong-hoon asked me, "What would you write on your tombstone when you die?" And I immediately replied, "Some crazy person who was running around in a frenzy is lying here.”

When I was young, I had a dream about flying. I used to go to nearby hills and see the airplanes flying in the sky. I thought, "Hey, someone who can fly around in that must be very happy." Now I travel abroad 24 times a year for movies, so it's a dream come true.

Lee: You lived a cinematic life — a young man who loved movies but couldn’t afford going to the theater, then dedicated his life to film festivals, with that dream reflected in BIFF. How did it all begin?

Kim: In 1992, after 30 Korean films were screened at the Pesaro International Film Festival in Italy, Jeon Yang-joon, Lee Yong-kwan and Kim Ji-seok proposed to create a small, prestigious film festival in Busan, and I was named festival executive director and started BIFF which has grown into a top film festival.

Lee: You created it in Busan, which was perceived as culturally barren at the time. What was your special connection to the city?

Kim: I was a refugee in Busan during the Korean War, so it felt like home to me. During the war, I arrived in Busan on a cargo ship. I saw the city from a distance at night. I thought it was a beautiful metropolitan city because the lights of the skyscrapers were dense. The next morning, I realized that the lights shining from the poor shantytowns in Yeongju-dong looked like a mirage of skyscrapers.

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, left, and director Wong Kar-wai smile during the Busan International Film Festival in this October 2004 photo. Korea Times file

Taking over world film festival with booze

Lee: That's very touching. You understood the struggles of refugees, having experienced hardship yourself. You made efforts to connect with filmmakers to bring this understanding to life. You expanded the space, now known for liquor, to include beaches and street festivals. You "conquered the world film festival with booze!"

Kim: Newspapers, broadcasters reported that. Takeshi Kitano and Wong Kar-wai drank so much one night that they said it was equal to a year's worth of drinking. After the festival on Haeundae Beach, we laid out newspapers, and invited food stalls and all the passing film stars to sit on the ground and party all night. It became a trend with street parties, hopping from stall to stall until dawn. I drank about 150 drinks, then ran along the beach at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m.

Lee: So, you made the famous street party history! You've become the father of Korean film festivals. Was it this passion that led to the success of BIFF?

Kim: I think BIFF is a very important place for us to have a window to showcase our own films, and it's Asia-focused. The programs and projects for discovering emerging directors, introducing films and selecting films were spot-on. Bong Joon-ho and other new directors premiered their first films at BIFF, which led to their international exposure and established them as world-class directors. We also supported Iranian, Chinese and other Asian directors, including Jia Zhangke, Jafar Panahi and Wang Xiaoshuai.

French actress Juliette Binoche, left, dances with Kim Dong-ho, then-festival director of Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), at a bar in Busan, Oct. 13, 2010. Courtesy of BIFF organizing committee

Making film festival

Lee: So the Asian focus was key. What was the most challenging part of creating BIFF?

Kim: The hardest thing was raising money and networking overseas. The people I founded it with were all people who had nothing to do with finance, so they had no ability to get money. I convinced my alumni and acquaintances who work in companies and government agencies to sponsor us. The following year, we started receiving government funding.

Kim: A year before I became CEO of the Korea Film Council, director Im Kwon-taek's "The Surrogate Woman" was screened at the Venice Film Festival. At that time, only one member of the council went to Venice with Im, but he left early because he was treated poorly, and when Kang Soo-yeon was called for Best Actress at the awards ceremony, no one was there, so the council member received the award instead.

Kim Dong-ho, left, former director of Busan International Film Festival, shakes hands with film director Im Kwon-taek during an event on publication of his memoirs in Seoul, Oct. 25, 2024. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Lee: Oh … Did that happen?

Kim: At least at one of the top three film festivals in the world. Based on the opinions of filmmakers and critics, we decided that the future of Korean cinema was overseas, so we organized delegations and held Korean Film Week in each country. We invited local governors, mayors, jury members and foreign filmmakers to Korea Day, where we showcased Korean music and food and turned it into a festival for Korean filmmakers, so that films could unite the Korean community and promote our culture. It also helped “Come, Come, Come Upward” win the Best Actress award in Moscow.

Lee: That's how Korean cinema developed. The head of the Cannes Film Festival said “I only like Kim Dong-ho, new DNA of Kim Dong-ho must come to Cannes."

Kim: When I first went to Cannes, I invited 15 people from Montreal, Munich, Berlin, Nantes and Cannes, including festival juries, critics and executive committee members, to a restaurant called Gavroche, and we had a meeting where we said, "Cheers to the success of the new Busan Film Festival!" I was convinced that BIFF would be successful one day. I was particularly persistent in recruiting festival director Thierry Fremaux, and the first festival he visited after taking over Cannes Film Festival was BIFF. Once I thought, "I have to bring him to Busan." I went to great lengths to get him there, and I made it happen, which was the first time that the three presidents of the three major film festivals came to a new festival together.

The opening ceremony for the 24th Busan International Film Festival is held at Busan Cinema Center, Oct. 3, 2019. Yonhap

Connecting dreams around world, BIFF and wings of K-culture

Lee: I think it's all connected now, and BIFF has revitalized the entire city and created a place for people to come together with their dreams. K-culture has evolved into “hallyu 4.0.” Where do you think K-cinema and K-culture should go from here?

Kim: In the last five years, K-cinema has been at its peak with international attention. Bong Joon-ho's “Parasite” (2019) won four awards at Cannes and the Academy Awards, Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” (2020) won multiple awards and Youn Yuh-jung won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Hwang Dong-hyuk’s “Squid Game” (2021) was No. 1 in global viewership, Lee Jung-jae won Best Actor, and Park Chan-wook and Song Kang-ho won at Cannes and the Academy Awards. Hong Sang-soo is the most awarded Korean director in the world.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, the recent situation makes it difficult for Korean cinema to continue. Audience sizes have decreased, investment has decreased and there is a lack of artistic films, so it is difficult to predict next year's awards, and it can be said that Korean cinema is in crisis.

On the other hand, there is a growing interest in pop culture in general, not just movies, and a shift toward contemporary fine culture. With Han Kang's Nobel Prize and other achievements in the fields of music, art and dance, I believe that K-culture will continue to grow as long as artists continue their creative endeavors.

Artist, director, writer and academic Lee Kyung-hwa, left, talks with Kim Dong-ho, former director of Busan International Film Festival, at Kim's office in Gyeonggi Province in November 2024. Courtesy of Lee Kyung-hwa

Kim is a man who crosses the sky and the sea and walks on a land without boundaries. This is the final scene of the documentary “Walking in the Movies,” where Kim symbolizes the dream of freedom. I wonder if, like a Busan seagull, Kim is quietly flapping his wings to fulfill the dreams of K-cinema.