Tetsuya Bessho, President of SSFF & ASIA, participates in Busan International Film Festival!
Last night, Thursday October 8th, the premiere screening of the short film “Lies,” directed by Naomi Kawase, was held at BH theater as part of the 20th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea.
This film was presented as part of the “MN9 Project,” a collaborative project organized BIFF, Youku (China’s largest streaming site) and Heyi Pictures Inc.. Directors Apichatpong Weerasethakul from Thailand, Naomi Kawase from Japan, Wang Xiaoshuai from China and Im Sang-soo from South Korea participated in the project. They were joined by four new directors introduced in the Color of Asia – Newcomers in the Wide Angle section.
SSFF & ASIA President Tetsuya Bessho stars in Naomi Kawase’s “Lies”, which is about the life and artistic views of a designer (played by Bessho) expressed through an interview that’s replete with poetic dialogue. Ai Ozaki, who plays the assistant as well as the designer’s carnal love interest, also stars. Although Tetsuya Bessho has been an advocate of short film for almost 20 years, it is the very first time that he has acted in a short film.
Before the screening, the “Lies” director and cast members were called on stage and each made a brief introductory comment. Director Naomi Kawase explained, “The three actors in this film are also bilingual in real life, so through the interpreted communication, I wanted to raise a nuance of lying within the characters’ dialog.” “It was such an honor for me to work as an actor in a Naomi Kawase film,” Bessho commented.
Prior to the screening, there was a surprise guest backstage – one of the most promising film directors from Singapore, Royston Tan, came to greet Tetsuya Bessho. Back in 2001, when SSFF & ASIA was still called “American Short Shorts Film Festival,” we screened our very first International program and in it we introduced a short film called “Sons” by the then as yet unknown Royston Tan! We were very pleased to see the director, whose latest feature film “3688” is screening in the A Window on Asian Cinema section, at BIFF.
For details about “Colors of Asia,” please check the official BIFF website
Naomi Kawase and Tetsuya Bessho
BH theater
Trailer
Photographed by LESLIE KEE