These two films did extremely well at the 24th Malaysian Film Festival or FFM 24 too, which was organized by the Federation of Film Professionals Associations of Malaysia (GAFIM)  and ran from Nov. 16 to 20. They dominated the award ceremony for their outstanding artistic achievements and unprecedented box office takings.

One of them was 27-year-old Syamsul Yusof’s KL Gangster. It is an adrenaline-pumping yet thought-provoking story of the uneasy relationship between two brothers who have conflicting views on a gangster lifestyle. It made over 10 million ringgit (US$3.2m) and topped the list of highest grossing films made domestically. The other was Yusry Abdul Halim’s CGI-packed film The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines, which tells the epic tale of Malayan warrior Merong Mahawangsa successfully escorting a Roman prince to China to marry his wife-to-be.

The two films took 14 out of the 33 awards up for grabs, with KL Gangster winning in six categories and The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines in eight. For KL Gangster, the categories were Best Editing, Movie Box Office, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Sound Setup, and Best Director. For The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines, they were Best Original Score, Best Costume, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Film, Best Poster, Best Visual Effects, and Best Theme Song.

To note, both directors Syamsul and Yusry come from families that have been established in the film or entertainment industries. Syamsul’s father Yusof Haslam is a renowned producer/actor/director in Malaysia. He worked alongside Syamsul as the producer for KL Gangster. Yusry, on the other hand, received help from his brothers Norman and Edry on producing and music. The three of them used to run a band but have turned it into KRU Studio now.

Edry (first left), Norman (second right), and Yusry (first right) / source: Bernama

FFM has certainly come a long way from its sorrier earlier years. New Straits Times reports that it used to have fewer than 20 nominations in the 1990s. In 2009, the number was 26; in 2010, it increased to 29. This year, there are 42. GAFIM also raised an impressive sum of 6.68 million ringgit to run the festival at the Putrajaya International Convention Center in Putrajaya.

However, despite its accomplishments, there are a few disappointing facts about the festival, which will hopefully get improved in the future. One of them is the festival’s official website, which does not seem updated to reflect this year’s events. Conflicting information about nominated films and winners is found on the website’s different webpages. Besides that, although 33 awards are listed for the festival, information can only be found on 29 of them (see link). The missing ones are Best Documentary, Best Short, Best Animated Feature, and Best Non-Malay Film. The absence of Non-Malay Film stands out especially because it is likely to bring on yet more grudges from non-Malays, who have already been speaking out against the discriminatory treatments by the National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia or FINAS on them. Last but not least, the festival can certainly use more audience members in the future, as this Facebook video will show you why.

TGV 1Shamelin in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur / source: 1Shamelin Shopping Mall's Facebook page

The free screenings are divided nicely between Malaysian and international blockbusters. Of the Malaysian titles are Chinese-Malaysian rapper and first-time filmmaker Namewee Wee Meng Chee’s Nasi Lemak 2.0 (2011), costume drama and the second most expensive Malaysian production ever (8 million ringgit) The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines (2011) loosely based on The Kedah Annals and directed by Yusry Abd Halim, and crime action flick and top grossing Malay film ever (10 million ringgit) KL Gangster (2011) directed by 27-year-old Syamsul Yusof.

The international category includes 2011 summer blockbusters Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) starring James Franco and X-Men: First Class (2011). Also showing during this promotion period is cantonese romantic comedy Men Suddenly in Love (2011) starring Eric Tsang and Chapman To.

Extended promotion offers are available for residents in Cheras as well. By presenting TGV Cinemas leaflets, which are being distributed in Taman Shamelin Perkasa of Cheras presently, anyone may redeem a maximum of two tickets per day at the multiplex from December 9 to 16, 2011, according to a press release on TGV Cinemas’ website.

With eight new screens and 1,714 seats, TGV 1Shamelin puts TGV Cinemas’ total number of screens to 114 and total number of seats to 23,000. This is a significant share in the nation’s total of roughly 500 screens as of March, 2011 (Film Business Asia). Founded in 1995, the company was the first to open a multiplex in Malaysia. It now boasts 17 multiplexes in all. Not long ago in January, it opened a new-concept beanieplex in Penang, again the first. The beanieplex is characterized by movie theaters with seats shaped like human-sized bean bags. Soon in December, TGV Sunway Pyramid in Selangor, TGV Cinemas’ top performing multiplex, will be the first to operate a digital IMAX theater system in the country too. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) will be the first film to be played there.

The festival was organized by the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI), one of the world’s five largest children’s content maker and rights holder, and the state government of Andhra Pradesh. A special arrangement was struck this year by the organizers to bring children from various government schools across the state to the festival. Unlike their counterparts in city schools, a good number of these children had never watched international films, let alone those that were made especially for them. It was exciting for them to see great works from around the globe with children from other countries, as well as to be able to attend filmmaking workshops where they were taught how to draw a storyboard and use a camera. The energy at the festival was incredibly high throughout the week.

CFSI produced the opening film of the festival, Gattu (2011). Gattu is a children’s fantasy film that centers on a street boy named Gattu who is determined to bring down an ominous black kite named Kali in his neighborhood. Director Rajan Khosa commented that Gattu was not a pedagogical film. He meant for kids to experience the excitement in the story and simply enjoy it.

There were four competition sections this year. Iranian director Mohammad-Ali Talebi’s Meadow (2011) clenched the Golden Elephant award in the international feature-length section. The second best award in the same category went to Russian director Garri Bardin’s The Ugly Duckling (2010). The best director award went to Danish director Vibeke Muasya for Lost in Africa (2010). And German directors Christian Ditter’s The Crocodiles Strike Back (2010) was voted best film by children’s jury.

Of the 10 films selected for the Indian feature-length section, Nitesh Tiwari and Vikas Bahl’s Chillar Party (2011) won both the best film award and the best film award by children’s jury while Mangesh Hadawale’s Watch Indian Circus (2011) came as the second best. Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni was named the best Indian director for The Well (2010), and I am Kalam (2010) received the best Indian screenplay award.

In the shorts section with 24 titles in total, German director Halina Dyrschka’s Nineandahalf’s Goodbye (2010) won the best short of the year award. It magically captured the hearts of both the children jury members and the festival committee.

Last but not least, Varun Halder and Binita Nayak were this year’s best children directors for their film Our World (2011) in the Little Directors section.

Aside from several world and Asian premiers, a good mix of already well-known big names such as Toy Story 3 (2010), Tangled (2010), Kungfu Panda 2 (2011), and Alice in Wonderland (2010) were shown too. The special section “In Focus: China” also brought six wonderful Chinese children’s films to the festival.

Nandita Das, the chairwoman of CFSI to step down next year, promised that CFSI would continue to bring great films to Indian children living in rural villages and small towns across the country, according to CNN-IBN. Besides that, CFSI is also trying to secure more distribution channels and screening venues for films in its library. For instance, earlier this year it organized “Monsoon Dhamaal” to show children’s films at selected schools in 10 Indian cities.

Cinemanila 2011 / source: Cinemanila

This year, Cinemanila 2011 or the 13^th Cinemanila International Film Festival took place from Nov. 11 to 17. It is undoubtedly growing in stature year by year.

Cinemanila 2011 has an official line-up of 102 films from both its competition and exhibition sections. 31 of them are directed by one or more Filipino directors. The festival’s opening film is German documentary filmmaker Wim Wender’s Pina (2011) about deceased German choreography Pina Bausch and her dance troupe. It is the first 3D film ever shown at the festival. The festival’s closing film is British Independent Film Award Winner Life in a Day (2011), a documentary that sources 4,500 hours of footage from YouTube users. These two films give a strong indication that Cinemanila emphasizes cinema that is both sincere and original.

There was a strong presence of South Korean cinema at the festival too, as evidenced by special screenings provided by the Jeonju International Film Festival and by the “Focus on Korea” program. K-horror, K-thriller, and Korean romance dramas were all well represented.

Oberhausen Programmer Herbert Schwarze also brought in high-caliber award-winning shorts from the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, one of the world’s oldest and most respected short film fests. During the festival, he gave a seminar on short films free for the public. It was a great learning opportunity for young Filipino filmmakers.

“The Beautiful Game” was probably the audience highlight of Cinemanila 2011. This new program curated eight sport films, all centered on soccer. They ranged from drama and comedy like Bend it like Beckham (2002) to gripping documentary like Rise & Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story (2011).

Winners of Cinemanila 2011 have been published on the festival’s official website. In contrast to last year, documentaries did not compete for awards in the Young Cinema section, which seemed to have restructured to focus on short films only. As for the lifetime achievement awards, they went to “Italian Hitchcock” Dario Argento (1940-) and Filipino actress Nora Aunor (1952-). You may get a glimpse of young Nora Aunor act in Himala (1982) below.

Though predominantly Chinese, a dozen languages and dialects are used in Nasi Lemak 2.0. They go back and forth seamlessly between different characters. Namewee (Chef Huang) and Karen Kong (Xiao K), who play the main characters, also display stunning skills in code-switching between Malay, English, Chinese mandarin, Cantonese, etc.

Nasi Lamak 2.0.

The story is set in the coastal area of Malaysia, a geographical location where Chef Huang’s master instructs him to settle and promote Chinese cuisine. The film uses typical Kung-Fu movie suspense where an obscure message is passed from a master to an apprentice, who must search for its true meaning by embarking on a journey of self discovery. A secondary plot adds to this suspense by having Chef Huang meet his long-time competitor in a final showdown.

Using Chef Huang’s journey, the film allows a great number of interesting and absurd details about his life in Malaysia to be packed in, such as constant blackouts and incompetent cops, and they act as indirect social commentary. However, some of the jokes are told at the risk of being irrelevancies.

To give an example, one of the digressions in the film has Chef Huang meet with Hui-Chinese explorer and diplomat Zheng He (1371 – 1433) in a dream. Chef Huang asks Zheng mischievously if he goes to a men’s or women’s restroom and if he pees standing up or squatting down. These jokes fly well with the younger generation in the audience, but they are probably too prankish to amuse the adults (not to say they are any dissimilar to Peter Griffin’s humor in Family Guy).

The embedded meaning of Chef Huang’s journey is 1Malaysia. The gradual acceptance and the eventual successful creation of fusion food by him are metaphors for his acculturation into Malaysian society. Sadly, for this part of the film, propagandist images also emerge.

In contrast to the visits to an Indian Malaysian household and a ghost couple’s household, where the film is still firmly lodged in its unique sense of humor consistent with what comes before, the visit to a Malay family’s household seems idealizing. To get the message about blissful polygamy across, four young and pretty housewives who live happily under one roof are shown, accompanied by a somewhat cheesy music soundtrack. This sequence is an odd fit in the film. It seems to try too hard to present something that its creator has problem buying.

For a first film, Nasi Lemak 2.0 is no doubt a success. Many faces in it leave long-lasting impressions, such as Mohamad Nadzif as the dopey security guard and Adibah Noor as the tough but kind-hearted street vendor Kak Noor. Some of the singsong sessions in the film will definitely continue a life off screen for being quirky yet upbeat. My favorite is the one by Chef Huang and Xiao K, the same song that makes Peter Teo’s character lust for Xiao K in the story. It is an old-fashioned love song with an ethnic Chinese melody but sung in broken English. But if I shed my cultural bias, I think “Rasa Sayang 2.0” will trump it.

One hundred years ago on October 10th, mutineers from Wuhan and its surrounding counties attacked the provincial headquarters of the Qing government located in Wuchang District of Wuhan, in what is known today as the Wuchang Uprising. They successfully captured key locations in the city, including the Governor-General’s Office, the Chuwangtai Armory, and the Provincial Administration Commission of Hubei, and forced the viceroy in office, who was in charge of both Hubei and Hunan Province at the time, to flee.

In a significant moment during the revolt, a flagman climbed up the Provincial Assembly Hall of Hubei, which is the Memorial Hall for the Wuchang Uprising of the 1911 Revolution today, and put up the Iron-Blood 18-star flag to mark their victory. This flag was declared the official flag of the Military Government of Hubei the next day. It is 130 days older than the Five Races Under One Union flag of Sun Yat-sen’s provisional government of the Republic of China, and 10 years older than the official flag of the Republic of China, which is often described as “Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth” in Chinese.

Memorial Hall of the Wuchang Uprising of the 1911 Revolution in Wuhan, Hubei

I am proud to point out that one of the key revolutionaries in the Wuchang Uprising, Cai Jimin (1887-1919), actually came from my native village Caiguantian of Huangpi County of Hubei Province. Technically speaking, he and I are from the same Cai clan, so it is very likely that we were related in the distant past.

Cai Jimin belonged to Sun Yat-sen’s anti-Qing allegiance. He was an active member of the Literary Society, the Progressive Association, as well as the China Revolutionary Alliance at his time. He led one of the troops during the revolt and was later given many different high-ranking military posts within the military government of Hubei. It is well documented that he and his descendants had been the keepers of the original 18-star flag up until 1975, when the flag was handed over to the Hubei Museum as a first-class cultural and historical relic.

The Wuchang Uprising sparked a number of uprisings all across China, known collectively as the Xinhai Revolution, and together they brought down the Qing Dynasty and 2,000 years of Chinese feudal rule. Today, this occasion is recognised in both China and Taiwan, with the latter also declaring October 10th or Double Ten Day its national day.

In Wuhan, a massive brick-red V-shaped structure was opened to the public on October 10th this year. It is the Xinhai Revolution Museum, and it is to commemorate the revolution (another museum of the same name was opened in Guangzhou on the same day). This museum is part of a revolution-themed complex that currently includes 18 attractions in Wuhan.

The Wuhan Xinhai Revolution Museum / source: Alpha Li's photo from Panoramio

Since October 15, the Wuhan Xinhai Revolution Museum has offered free admission to the public. If you happen to be in Wuhan or are curious about the factual history behind Jackie Chan’s 100th movie 1911, be sure to pay a visit!

And if you are like me living thousands of miles away from Wuhan right now, you may choose to download this interesting app on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod, to satisfy your thirst for knowledge about the revolution!

Busan International Film Festival / source: The Daily Star

The 16th Busan International Film Festival closed on Friday October 14, 2011.

There were a lot of firsts this year. It was the first year that the festival has officially changed its name from Pusan to Busan; it is the first year that Lee Yong-kwan has worked as the festival director, replacing its founding director Kim Dong-ho; it is the first year that the festival has moved into the newly constructed Busan Cinema Center; it is the first year of the Busan Cinema Forum; and it is also the first year that the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) has been used to house various festival programs.

Needless to say, to be a BIFF award winner this year, the honor was particularly great.

Below is a breakdown of the victors.

New Currents Award
Considered a main prize of BIFF, this award is set at US $30,000 and is given to an up-and-coming director who shows great potential in becoming a world-class director in his or her first or second film.

Niño by Filipino director Loy Arcenas
Mourning by Iranian director Morteza Farshbag

Flash Forward Award
Another main prize of BIFF, this award is given to a non-Asian film director who show great potential in becoming a world-class director in his or her first or second film. The award is also set at US $30,000.

La-Bas: A Criminal Education by Italian director Guido Lombardi (See trailer here)

Sonje Awards
Set at 10 million won or approximately US $10,000 each, the awards are given to the best Asian short films in the Wide Angle section of BIFF.

Thug Beram by Indian director Venkat Amudhan
See You Tomorrow by Korean director Lee Woo-jung

BIFF Mecenat Awards
Set at 10 million won or approximately US $10,000 each, the awards are given to the best Asian documentaries in the Wide Angle section of BIFF.

Sea of Butterfly by Korean director PARK Bae-il
Shoji & Takao by Japanese director IDE Yoko

KNN Movie Award
Sponsored by the Korea New Network (KNN) Foundation, this is an audience award set at US $20,000 that goes to the most popular film in the New Currents section of BIFF.

Watch Indian Circus by Indian director Mangesh Hadawale

FIPRESCI Award
Chosen by the International Federation of Film Critics (or Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique International Federation of Film Critics), this award goes to a progressive film by an up-and-coming Asian director.

Mourning by Iranian director Morteza Farshbaf

NETPAC Award
Chosen by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC), this award goes to the best Korean film in either the New Currents or Korean Cinema Today section of BIFF.

The King of Pigs by Korean director YEON Sang-ho

Busan Cinephile Award
Chosen by college student jury members, this award goes to the best short film in the Wide Angle section of BIFF.

The Twin by Swedish director Gustav Danielsson

Citizen Reviewers’ Awards
Chosen by citizen reviewers mainly from the Busan Cinematheque, the awards go to the most loved Korean films in the Korea Cinema Today – Vision section of BIFF, with a small cash prize or equivalent.

Blue Pine Tree: Jesus Hospital by Korean director LEE Sang-chul and SHIN Ah-ka
Red Pine Tree: A Fish by Korean director PARK Hong-min
Yellow Pine Tree: Romance Joe by Korean director LEE Kwang-kuk

DGK Award
Chosen from the Korean Cinema Today – Vision section of BIFF, the awards go to the best Korean director, actor, and actress at US $10,000, US $2,500, and US $2,500 respectively.

Directors Award: YEON Sang-ho for The King of Pigs
Actor: HA Hyun-kwan in Beautiful Miss Jin
Actress: HAN Song-hee and WHANG Jung-min in Jesus Hospital

Movie Collage Award
Co-founded by BIFF and CJ (Cheil Jedang) Entertainment Gold Village (CJ CGV), which is an art-house movie theater chain, this award goes to an independent Korean film in the form of distribution and exhibition aids.

The King of Pigs by Korean director YEON Sang-ho

The Asian Filmmaker of the Year is Tsui Hark.

The Korean Cinema Award, which goes to an individual who have significant contributions in promoting Korean cinema to the world, is given to Julietta Sichel.

Busan Exhibition and Convention Center / source: Korea IT Times

Four major events at the 16^thBusan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea concluded concurrently on Thursday. They were the 4^th Asian Film Policy Forum, the 11^th Busan International Film Commission & Industry Showcase (BIFCOM), the 6^th Asian Film Market, and lastly, the 14^th Asian Project Market.

Unlike previous years when separate venues were used for each event, this year the events were held together at the spacious Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO). Participating regional film commissions, talent agencies, film distributors, film directors, producers, financiers, and various industry representatives were able to meet each other, exchange information, and discuss and initiate potential projects all in one place.

To highlight some of the events, eight ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries attended the ASEAN session of the Asian Film Policy Forum, organized by BIFCOM. Each country gave a presentation of its past and present film development plans. Film policy makers from Indonesia, for example, said that they would revise the existing film policies and add film incentives with the goal of strengthening local productions. The country is expected to have 350 screens by 2014.

Laos, on the other hand, planned to establish a new film archive and two international film festivals in Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Burma started to offer film studies programs in some of its state universities. And Vietnam announced its new tax exemption for international co-production projects. Because previously some ASEAN countries had been perceived as difficult places to film despite their wealth of diverse filming locations, the forum also provided a good opportunity for these countries to redefine and promote their film industries, including showcasing their less well-known filming locations. In fact, every year at BIFCOM an exhibition on location is held, together with a twin exhibition on industry.

As for the Asian Film Market, whose goal is to help filmmakers find distributors for their completed works, all numbers were up. Market screenings increased from 39 last year to 60 this year; screening sessions from 47 to 64; theater numbers from 4 to 6; total badge members from 789 to 1,100; and American and Japanese sales companies also doubled. To note, the number of signed agreements is not registered because conventionally deals are not sealed at film markets; socializing and networking are expected to take place instead.

The Asian Project Market, previously known as the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP), had a selection of 30 films this year.

Among the selected films were Distortion by Thai director Nonzee Nimibutr, The Dog Show by Filipino director Ralston Jover, The Hangman’s Breakfast by Singaporean director Glen Goei, Killers by the Mo brothers from Indonesia, SATRA by Filipino director Sheron Dayoc, and Southeast Lovers co-directed by Thai director Aditya Assarat, Sri Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara, Vietnamese director Phan Dang Di, Indonesian director Ifa Isfansyah, and Bangladeshi director Ishtiaque Zico. Click here to see this year’s winners.

Workshops and master classes were also conducted as part of APM.

TIES THAT BIND Asia-Europe Producers Workshop, which specializes in assisting Asian and European producers with co-production projects, selected 10 films this year. Among them were Suriya by Thai producer Pran Tadaveerawat, Big father small father and other stories . . . by Vietnamese producer Nguyen Hoang Diep, and The Real Champion by Indonesian producer Rina Harahap. During the workshop, the producers worked with top-level experts on script development, marketing, pitching, etc. and learned most current issues in film financing, sales, legal frameworks, exhibition practices, festivals, etc.

Similarly, 13 documentaries were selected to participate in the Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Programs, which consisted of AND Clinic and AND Project Meeting. Among the AND-selected films were On Mother’s Head by Indonesian director Kusuma Widjaja Putu, Cinema of Terror by Malaysian director Dain Said and Indonesian director Yayan Wiludiharto, and Where Your Boundaries Are by Thai director Nontawat Numbenchapol.

Despite the presence of some American sales companies like Lakeshore Entertainment and Voltage Pictures, no Hollywood studio came to BIFF this year. Some buyers also commented that the change of venue had a thinning effect on the energy that used to run in such events. In addition to them, BIFF’s Asian Film Market seems to face immediate competition from more established film markets like the Content Market at the Tokyo International Film Festival (to be taken place from October 24 to 26 this year) and the American Film Market (to be taken place from November 2 to 9 this year). The road ahead will be challenging. But before we make any conclusive remarks, let’s tune in to BIFF’s closing ceremony tonight!

Hangul Day 2011 / Source: Google Holiday Logo

You might have noticed this logo on Google Search two days ago. It is Korean for “Google.” Every year on October 9, South Koreans celebrate the Korean Alphabet Day also known as Hangul Day to honor their writing system. According to Professor Robert J. Fouser from the Department of Korean Language at Seoul National University, except for North Korea, South Korea is the only country in the world with such a national holiday (The Korea Times).

But it all makes sense. Throughout the history of Korea, Chinese script has been used as its official writing system. However, because written Chinese demands memorization of thousands of different characters, only elites used it. In the mid-fifteenth century, out of concern for ordinary Koreans who could only speak but not write, King Sejong (1418-50) started a project to create a new alphabet system based on phonetics. The project took three years to complete. In 1466, hangul, which etymologically means great script in archaic Korean, was proclaimed as the new official written language in Korea.

Strictly speaking, although hangul was created more than half a millennium ago, it has only been widely in use for slightly more than half a century. In the old days, it was considered unsophisticated and was often looked down upon by the elites. The only place where it appeared was popular literature, which pandered for the lower rungs of society. To add to that, although it was revived towards the end of the 19th century by reformist nationalists, its popularity was short-lived. In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan, and all of a sudden, hangul was in disuse again. The ban on hangul was only lifted in 1945 after the defeat of Japan in World War II.

Such is the history of the Korean language. As you can probably tell, it is a big part of national pride for Koreans today.

Perhaps this is why private institutions in South Korea as well as individual Koreans who are without ties to the state actively promote their language in a number of creative ways.

Hyun-woo Sun, the CEO of G9Language, has taken it upon himself to announce Hangul Day to the rest of the world on YouTube since 2009. He calls for Korean language lovers to submit their written scripts in Korean to him every year, and he puts them together in a collage video on YouTube. This activity has become so successful over the past two years – with its own blogs and videos – that this year a physical exhibition of participants’ submissions was held at Sukmyeong Women University. Here’s the video:

On his website, Hyun-woo Sun mentions that he launched TalkToMeInKorean.com in 2009. For those who have not had a chance to check it out, TalkToMeInKorean is a great website to learn Korean, and it is free. Lessons on the website are grouped into six levels according to their difficulty, and users can find a great number of supplementary learning materials including well-prepared notes, very interesting videos, and real tutors that offer additional help and guidance.

At the present, TalkToMeInKorean has over 36,000 Facebook fans. This seems contrary to what Prefessor Fouser states in his October 10^th article – he thinks that Korean-learning has peaked in the mid-2000s during the prime of hallyu or the Korean Wave, which describes the growing popularity of Korean culture around the world, especially in Asia. Korean-learning has become more organized at the grassroots level instead of going out of fashion. Increasingly affordable technologies and available virtual platforms have only made it easier for people with an interest.

As a note, Google accepted Hangul Day to its holiday logo list only recently, in 2008. Including this year’s logo, there are four only.

Hangul Day 2008 / source: Google Holiday Logo

Hangul Day 2009 / source: Google Holiday Logo

Hangul Day 2010 / source: Google Holiday Logo

The recognition by Google has certainly been a big international advertisement for hangul. But in addition to Google, Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks – Asia (SPENA) has been promoting hallyu too, with its new channel ONE. At the present, ONE features primarily Korean content, such as Korean television dramas, movies, and music videos. And its audience is spread wide across Asia. In Malaysia, ONE can be subscribed via Astro B.yond; in Singapore, StarHub; in Indonesia, Groovia TV and Centrin TV; and just this May, ONE became available in Cambodia on Phnom Penh Cable Television (PPCTV). In countries where ONE is not available yet, like the Philippines, Korean television dramas are being broadcast on local channels and have been extremely popular with the young too.

As of now, thanks to Google, SPENA, Hangul Day, all the anonymous cultural workers who do their part to promote Korean culture and language, and all the interested parties and fans of Korea, it looks like that hallyu is not waning but has just been warming itself up.

Tsui Hark, Luc Besson, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Isabella Hupert, Michelle Yeoh, and Johnnie To are some heavyweights in the festival’s guest list.

For those who are not familiar with the festival, it is one of the largest and most prestigious film festivals in Asia. Before it changed its name to Busan, it had been known as the Pusan International Film Festival.

Sure enough, this year, the spelling standardization will be remembered with other big news surrounding the festival, and the biggest among them is the completion of the Busan Cinema Center, a $140 million architectural wonder that features the world’s longest cantilever.

Busan Cinema Center by Austrian Architectural Design Firm Coop Himmelb(l)au. Source: designboom.com.

From now to October 14, 2011, the Busan Cinema Center will be used exclusively for the festival.

Also upping the festival this year is the First Busan Cinema Forum, to be held from October 10 to 12. This academic conference comes at a time when Asian cinema is growing and maturing fast, yet in need of careful examination and discussion. The fact that it brings film scholars and practitioners together distinguishes it from conventional academic conferences.

Besides the aforementioned exciting new changes, BIFF will also introduce new interactive programs for its attendees this year, for examples, the Citizen Reviewers and the Student Award. As it goes without saying, when film festivals do not offer innovative ways for audience participation, they run the risk of boring the public as a series of film screenings. So bravo to BIFF for having taken an initiative to nail this problem.

As for the winners of the 2011 Asian Cinema Fund, a staple of the festival since 2007, 31 finalists have been announced on the festival’s website.

Nasi Lemak 2.0 (2011) by Wee Meng Chee "Namewee"

Nasi Lemak 2.0 did not come to life easily. As chronicled in a two-part video posted on the official website of the film, Namewee first had the idea of making this film in 2009, in response to the 1Malaysia campaign initiated by the Malaysian Prime Minister in the same year to promote cultural and ethnic unity. Despite being told that Chinese-Malaysian directors hardly ever got funding from the National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia, also known as FINAS, Namewee was determined to give it a try. He made the strategic first move by holding a press conference where he announced his plan to shoot the film. He then began the application with real-time video documentation of everything that happened his way.

As it turned out, the application did not go as smoothly as Namewee wished it to. Besides a mountain of paperwork that went with the application, he dealt with sudden changes in the application procedure and unannounced updates of certain application forms. These pre-production adventures were recorded by his crew and compiled into a video, which first went public at the end of 2010. In it, Namewee is seen to embrace the complications with a rather moderate and positive attitude.

“Looking on the bright side, their new format and forms should be simpler, so future applicants can go through earlier application process,” he said.

This placid side of Namewee is a change from his well-known music video persona. Usually, he raps in an angry and focused mood, about things that he considers ridiculous or socially unjust.

To his disappointment, FINAS could not fund his film because in order to quality for their consideration, a film would have to have 60% or more of its dialogue in Malay. Namewee was summoned by the Ministry of Information Communications and Culture within a month after he submitted his application, and there he was told to withdraw by Minister YB Heng.

As a matter of fact, many countries have similar restrictions on state funding for films, and languages used in films can often be an issue. In South Korea, for example, a Korean film is defined using a point system. If a particular film has a Korean director, it may score a certain number of points. If it uses Korean throughout, it may score some additional points. When its total points exceed the required number, the film will be considered Korean and will get subsidies from the film council. Otherwise, it must seek other sources of funding.

So Namewee was forced to change his original plan. He listened to the minister’s suggestion of applying with another source named Creative Industry Fund, which totaled 200 million ringgit in 2010. Unfortunately, after months of waiting, his application was still rejected. During this time, Minister YB Heng, who had tried to help Chinese-Malaysian filmmakers with their situation, was also transferred out of the Ministry of Information Communications and Culture by the Malaysian government. The series of failures made Namewee feel that he had exhausted every other means to get funding for the film, and the only way left would be to meet the prime minister and talk it over with him.

In some ways, meeting the prime minister may seem more impossible than making this film. But Namewee’s YouTube videos of his adventures to make the movie have developed a great following. And his popularity has helped him achieve the unthinkable. Earlier on in 2007, he made waves in the Malaysian media by releasing a controversial music video “Nagarakuku.” It is said that the lyrics offended some Malays and Muslims in the country because they considered the song rude and seditious, though Namesee himself fervently denied the charges and tried to explain that he was a patriotic Malaysian deep down. Being a rapper, he was only using satires to describe his life in Malaysia from his point of view.

The prime minister did not find time to meet Namewee in the end. However, Namewee did get to meet Law Minister Mohamed Nazri Adul Aziz in the Malaysian Parliament and was received favorably by him. Mr Nazri also commented during their meeting that everyone would curse, and the use of expletives on and of itself would not be a crime.

After more than a year’s struggles to get funding and faced with constant failures, Namewee was finally saved by a private donor. Though the money offered was not much, he was grateful for it because it allowed him to finally start production. Shooting began right before Chinese New Year in February. The film was completed in June.

Unfortunately, not everyone  in Malaysia could appreciate Namewee for his unconventional ways of expression as Mr Nazri did. On September 21, not long after the film was released, a journalist from Utusan Malaysia openly asked the people to boycott Nasi Lemak 2.0 in her article. Her intolerance enraged Namewee and prompted him to launch a tirade against her and the newspaper in another YouTube video. The incident has since been reported many times by different newspapers.

Currently Nasi Lemak 2.0 is still playing in movie theaters in Malaysia. It was ranked seventh on the Malaysian Box Office Chart last week, according to Cinema Online. And it is looking to gross over 5 million ringgit this week.

Winner of the 2004 Super Girl: An Youqi or Angela An

Winner of the 2004 Super Girl: An Youqi or Angela An

Born to an ordinary Chinese family in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province in Northern China, An Youqi or Angela An has loved to sing and dance since she was only a kid. In Eighth Grade, she took her first singing class but was forced to quit soon afterward because it put a financial strain on her family. She and her parents relocated to Beijing in 1998 in search for a better life. And that was the year that she became a songstress in a bar, with the hope of being discovered by a talent agency. During her time there, she did not simply wait for opportunities to knock at her door. Instead, she was proactive. She entered a few local singing contests and also appeared in a TV commercial. Unfortunately, these achievements were only baby steps to a serious career in the entertainment industry. She was downtrodden and felt that her time was running out when Super Girl suddenly came around.

Youqi described in her memoir that she bought a return ticket on the same day as her audition in Nanjing, believing that her chance of getting selected was slim. But when news of her acceptance into the next round was broken to her, she was thrilled, and her dream was rekindled. She endured immense pressure every day during the course of the competition because unlike some other girls who simply wanted to participate in the show, she wanted a chance to stand out. Sometimes, the mundane television appearance where every contestant was supposed to speak confidently about winning wore down on her. But she did not let herself run out of steam. She gave her best shot each time on stage. Finally, with a marginal success of about 200 more votes than her opponent, she become the first champion of Super Girl.

Since then, Youqi has been making music and releasing music albums. Her most famous singles include “Hi Jay Chou” and her own cover version of Ayumi Hamasaki’s “To Be.”

Winner of the 2005 Super Girl: Li Yuchun or Chris Li

Winner of the 2005 Super Girl: Li Yuchun or Chris Li

For many of us, Li Yuchun or Chris Li does not need much of an introduction. Since she won the 2005 Super Girl, she has become a national icon in China. A few international newspapers including the Time Magazine and the BBC has also profiled her. Compared to the conventional long-haired and sweet-talking beauties, Yuchun’s androgynous looks and her outspoken personality were extremely refreshing. She is thought to have initiated a new set of cultural standards and gender expectations in mainland China.

Yuchun is from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. Though she had won a singing competition in middle school and had held her first concert in high school at the age of 18, her formal training in music and singing did not start until she was accepted by Sichuan Conservatory of Music to study popular music.

During the 2005 Super Girl, Yuchun shot to the top with unprecedented popularity. She won over the hearts of many not only because of her outstanding performance, but also because that she exuded a great deal of positive energy. Fans loved and admired her frankness and honesty, her good faith and attitude, and her independent thinking and individuality.

After winning the contest, Yuchun has been involved in much community-oriented work. She uses her charisma to fight for many worthy causes in society. Besides them, her career in singing and acting also continues to grow. So far she has held 14 music concerts in China. In 2009, she also appeared in a big-budget history drama movie called Bodyguards and Assassins by Teddy Chan, working alongside with top-notch Chinese actors such as Xueqi Wang, Donnie Yen, and Nicholas Tse.

Winner of the 2006 Super Girl: Shang Wenjie or Laure Shang

Winner of the 2006 Super Girl: Shang Wenjie or Laure Shang

Shang Wenjie or Laure Shang was born in Shanghai. Before she became famous through Super Girl, she had studied French at Fudan University and had written a book of her travels in France called Walk with Dream: Laure in France.

In 2006, Wenjie became the champion of Super Girl with the highest votes in the history of the show, dazzling everyone with her ability to sing like a native in different foreign languages. She is an ambitious, stylish, and all-rounded girl, able to impress anyone easily.

Since 2006, Wenjie’s career has diversified. In the past, she had mainly worked as a translator and interpreter, thanks to her excellent language abilities. Since winning the 2006 Super Girl, she has contracted with Huayi Brothers Media Group and has released seven music albums, not counting a movie album for Feng Xiaogang’s box office hit of 2008, If You Are the One, in which she collaborated with other artists. On top of her singing career, she has acted as a cultural ambassador for China at many international events. And in 2009, she published her second book, which was a translation of French writer and director Philippe Claudel’s novel La Petite Fille de Monsieur Linh.

Winner of the 2009 Super Girl: Jiang Yingrong or Vivi Jiang

Winner of the 2009 Super Girl: Jiang Yingrong or Vivi Jiang

Like Li Yuchun or Chris Li, Jiang Yingrong or Vivi Jiang is also from Sichuan, not the capital but a small place called Mianyang. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but unfortunately, when she was 12, her parents had a divorce. She grew up with her mother in a single-parent family, where her biological father’s role was reduced to that of an ATM.

Yingrong graduated from the Popular Music Institute of Beijing Contemporary Music Academy. She not only has a talent in singing but also in dancing. During the 2009 Super Girl, she was considered by many a versatile performer. Though her family background would seem to suggest otherwise, she is actually a very optimistic, bold, and outgoing tomboy. She is super attractive, and very fiery. Her fans dubbed themselves as fireflies because they considered Yingrong as passionate as fire.

Here are a few interesting quotes by Yingrong.

“In my family, my mom acts both as my mom and my dad. It should follow that I can be both a boy and a girl.”

“The best respect I can offer to my opponent on this stage is to give it my best shot.”

“I am always high-spirited. I want to calm down but I can’t.”

Compared to the earlier Super Girl winners, Yingrong has not accomplished as much as they have. But she is working on it. She has been doing modeling, shooting commercials, and appearing in entertainment-related events and shows. So far, she has also released seven singles with music videos.

Winner of the 2011 Super Girl: Duan Linxi or Jeremy Duan

Winner of the 2011 Super Girl: Duan Linxi or Jeremy Duan

Duan Linxi or Jeremy Duan is the first Super Girl winner from China’s post-90s generation. As opposed to the mainstream perception of her generation, whom at their best are thought to be tech-savvy, rebellious, and opinionated, and at their worst self-centered, spoilt, and jealous, Linxi is a low-keyed celebrity with few words. Her unusual life experiences make her kindness and filial piety particularly admirable. But her cute looks tend to belie her strong character and her inner maturity.

During the 2011 Super Girl, Linxi appeared in a puerile-looking bob hairdo and a pair of huge black-rimmed eyeglasses without lenses. She smiled a lot at everyone, revealing her uneven upper canine teeth every time.

Linxi is from Baoshan, a city in Yunnan Province in southern China. When she was four, her parents divorced, and she was given into the custody of her father. Working as a long-distance driver, Linxi’s father was only at home infrequently, so there was never much exchange between him and her. He eventually quit this job and started his own business.

At around the time that Linxi finished middle school, her father’s business went awry. To reduce the financial burden on him, she chose not to go to high school. Instead, she started to work in a local bar called 10:30 Music Bar as a songstress and guitarist. She saved her income to help out her father’s business and support the family. When she entered the 2011 Super Girl, her goal was simply to get into the Top 50 girls in her region so that her bar might benefit from her new-found fame and have better business.

She takes great pleasure in helping others, even if it means that she ends up doing so at the expense of her own self-interest. One contestant in her group stated that initially she had no fans. After she told Linxi, Linxi generously asked some of her own fans to share their support with this girl.

Below are three quotes from three celebrities who supported Linxi in the 2011 Super Girl.

“I can see so much from the look of your eyes and feel so much from the voice of your singing. Good music requires the accumulation of life experiences and the condensation of time. It requires a high level of inner maturity. You are only 20 years old, but I can tell from your voice and your look that you are mature, and that is why your music is mature, with purity and simplicity in it too. Many of us have forgotten this kind of purity and simplicity, but seeing it in you has touched me.” – Sa Dingding, Chinese folk singer.

“If the music world is like a royal feast, then you are a tiny plate of vegetables. When people grow tired of oily and extravagant dishes like oysters and shark fins, they cannot resist your refreshing taste. I support Duan Linxi!” – Huang Zheng, songwriter and music producer.

“Yang Yang (another contestant in the 2011 Super Girl) looks so beautiful that her beauty touches my heart, but Duan Linxi sings so beautifully that her voice shatters my heart, overwhelming me. I support Duan.” – Song Shinan, Writer and Freelancer.

To watch a video of Linxi’s performance, click here.