Two Asian Filmmakers Support Globalization of Cinema

Two Asian film directors expressed their approval of the increasingly global nature of the film industry in statements made toward the conclusion of the 20th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea on Oct. 5.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul, a film director from Thailand, said that he celebrates the fact that there are fewer "borders" in cinema now as compared to before.

Weerasethakul won the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival for his film "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives."

"The more filmmakers from around the world work together, the more ideas we will share and the better the content we produce will be," Weerasethakul said.

"We shouldn't be looking at filmmaking like we do the Olympics, that films come from here or there," Weerasethakul added. "Cinema should be global."

Aside from Weerasethakul, Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai also rejoiced at the globalization of cinema.

Wang is best known for his film "Beijing Bicycle" that won the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2001.

"By working together we can learn different ways to tell stories, we can reach a wider audience and we can explore cinema," Wang said. "This sharing of ideas has become more and more common and that is great for the future of our industry, and for audiences, especially in China."

Weerasethakul and Wang are two of four Asian directors that contributed to "Color of Asia: Masters," a collection of short films that showcases prominent Asian film directors, which premiered at the BIFF.

Weerasethakul's contribution is the short film "Vapour," which according to the BIFF website is "a lyrical piece absent of any dialogue," while Wang's contribution is "The Cornfields," which the website describes as "a subdued story about a young boy and his grandmother who are left alone in a small village."

The two shorts are joined in the collection by Naomi Kawase's "Lies" and Im Sang-soo's "The Vampire Lives Next Door."

The short film collection was produced with the support of Youku Tudou Group, China's largest streaming site, and Heyi Pictures.

Wang commented on the nature of streaming services and their benefit to the film industry.

"Cinema wants and needs the new platforms the likes of Youku provide," Wang said. "We need to find an audience for our films, and sometimes this is hard for independent filmmakers. But we are finding hope as these services reach a very large audience who want more and more content."