BIFF starts off with 'Horse Thieves' opening screen

The 24th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) kicked off Thursday, with a red carpet event and the opening ceremony at the Busan Cinema Center. The festival will run through Oct. 12 and feature 303 films from 85 countries. Courtesy of BIFF

By Lee Gyu-lee

BUSAN ― The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the largest in Asia, kicked off its 10-day run Thursday with the opening film “The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time.”

The film is a unique collaborative work between Japan and Kazakhstan, co-directed by Kazakhstan director Yerlan Nurmukhambetov ― 2015 BIFF New Currents Award winner ― and Japanese director Lisa Takeba.

The two directors first met at the Cannes Film Festival where Nurmukhambetov discussed the story he was planning to work on. The plot drew Takeba's attention and led to the unlikely collaboration between the two.

“Japan had a deep interest in co-producing with different countries in Central Asia and I also became interested, so I accepted the offer,” said Nurmukhambetov at a media conference held before the opening ceremony at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan.

The film has the rather simple and straight-forward story of a 10-year-old Kazakhstan boy Olzhas (Madi Minaidarov) losing his father who was killed by horse thieves on his way to market. After his father's funeral, a mysterious horseman Kairat (Mirai Moriyama) shows up in front of his mother Aigal (Samal Yesyamova) who is suffering from the loss of her husband and being left with three young children. Kairat's history with Aigal ― though not explicitly but through context ― and his connection with Olzhas are later revealed as he helps Aigal's family to move away from the town.

From left, Kazakhstan actress Samal Yesyamova, Kazakhstan director Yerlan Nurmukhambetov, Japanese director Lisa Takeba, and Japanese actor Mirai Moriyama pose for pictures after a media conference for the film “The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time,” Thursday, at the Busan Cinema Center. The co-produced film from Japan and Kazakhstan was selected as the opening film for the 24th Busan International Film Festival. Yonhap

“I thought the story of a boy losing his father and trying to manage the loss resembles the phase of Central Asian countries' separating from the Soviet Union and rebuilding their nation,” Takeba said, as she noted that was what attracted her to join the project.

“The film depicts the nature of a family that sticks together, but after time, they get pulled apart by circumstances. And the story shows the growth of a boy (through such circumstances).”

Throughout the movie, there are not many words or subplots that describe the characters or their emotions. But instead, the story fills itself with scenes of nature as the screen explores the wide barren vistas of rural Kazakhstan, offering a Wild West sentiment of horses against a mountainous, deserted backdrop.

Jeon Yang-jun, the executive director of the festival, said the film shows “stunning, lyrical scenery and the darkness in human nature through controlled expression.”

“The film utilized the beauty of widescreen and long shot techniques to present subtle emotions and expressions with a breathtaking panoramic view,” Jeon said.

The visually focused film offers very little explanation and background on the character Kairat, which was taken out of the script as the film was shooting.

Japanese actor Moriyama said eliminating the backstory of the character helped the film express the character better.

“There is no detailed information on the character in the film, but the subtle and controlled actions and performances resonate the film with earthly energy and warm strength that Kazakhstan has,” said Moriyama who had to speak in Kazakh in the film which he had never learned before. But it's through the use of minimalistic, controlled expressions that he gives a heartfelt performance of the character.

A scene from “The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time,” a film about a boy, Olzhas (Madi Minaidarov), right, who encounters a mysterious horseman Kairat (Mirai Moriyama), after losing his father to horse thieves. Courtesy of BIFF

Taking out Kairat's backstory wasn't the only thing that changed during production. “The settings and details that we had, as we built up the script, changed completely as we were actually shooting,” said Takeba. She added that the spontaneity of her Kazakh partner's directing style was very different from the Japanese production style of having everything set and fixed before shooting.

The script, the role distribution of two co-directors, and even the ending changed while shooting. “Such flexibility, in my opinion, is a weakness but, at the same time, a great strength that Kazakhstanis have,” she said. “I thought this was one of the amazing characteristics indigenous to nomads.”

The 24th BIFF opened up with a red carpet event under the theme of diversity. Beginning with a performance by Myanmar refugee Wan Yihwa, actor Jung Woo-sung and actress Lee Ha-nee hosted the opening award ceremonies ― Asian Filmmaker of the Year and Korean Cinema Award ― which ended with the opening film screening.

The festival will feature 303 films from 85 countries, and wrap up with the closing film “Moonlit Winter,” directed by the 2016 BIFF New Currents Award winner Lim Dae-hyung, Oct. 12.

Actress Lee Ha-nee, left, and actor Jung Woo-sung, hosts of the opening ceremony, walk the red carpet. Courtesy of BIFF