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Joe in (P)Busan part 2. 아기 천사 premieres
By Joe Ruiz | November 27, 2008
Day 3, 3 Oct 2008
In case you’re wondering: in 2000 Korea switched to a new Romanization system, altering the spelling of many towns and cities. As a result, Pusan became “Busan”. By then the Pusan International Filmfest had grown in popularity, as did the acronym PIFF; that the PIFF people decided not to change the name of the festival to the less-catchy “BIFF”.
Today is a big day–the international premiere of Baby Angelo, at 12:30 PM, followed by a question and answer session with me. Nervous again, as always. My fear is that no one would show up.
Me and Monster (who’s visibly hung-over)
So thankfully, Marge and Monster had already arrived. Monster apparently straight to the airport from drinking with the gang back home.
Met with the PIFF volunteers who seemed really excited to see me. Monster arrived just in time for the screening, and promptly fell asleep the minute the Arkeofilms logo lit up the screen. Margie snuck in a couple minutes late. The screening was full, which was a surprise; about 90% where local Koreans. After five minutes I couldn’t take it anymore, so I left. Aside from a heart-stopping ten-second black (as they switched tapes), the screening went without a hitch.
Q&A
more Q&A
Afterwards was the Q&A, with a moderator and a translator, which meant it took a while to ask or reply. First off I’m pleasantly surprised that the people here are so appreciative of different kinds of cinema. Here’s an unknown film from a third world country, and it’s a full house. I wish we’d get that kind of response in Manila too. Generally it seems like the film was a hit. A lot of people noted the music and the songs, which I appreciated because Peach, Abi and I put a lot of work into it, and it went largely unnoticed in Manila. The big Bong and Lisa argument was also a high note, with people asking me if it was based on an actual argument I had. I said it’s based on many big fights I’ve had with T, which are about nothing and everything. I also got asked why I know women so well, to which I credited T and my Mom, whom they asked to stand up. And they applauded her. Hehe. Good work daw Mom.
me and the audience
more Korean friends
Me and my parents
They had to cut the Q and A short because we were running out of time, and afterwards it was a lot of pictures and autographs, which was funny and a liiiitle embarrassing because it took a while. In Manila they’d hardly give us independent filmmakers the time of day, yet here, they’re very appreciative. They even snapped photos of my parents, hehe.
(taken from Joel Ruiz’s blog whateverbakesyourcake.wordpress.com)
