9th PIFF Kicks Off on Oct. 7th 266 Films from 63 Nations Await Fans at PIFF Wong Kar-wei In Busan to Show New Film Korean Actress, Hong Kong Actor Meet in Busan

The Nov. 22 edition of Time Asia Magazine ranked the PIFF as the best film festival in its Best of Asia 2004 report.

Time Magazine selected Asia's best in three sections -- Best for Your Body, Best for Your Mind, and Best for Your Soul -- selecting the PIFF as Asia's most fantastic film festival in the Best for Your Mind section. It explained, “Pusan is known more for its container port than its culture. But for a week every October, it hosts Asia's most important cinematic event -- the Pusan International Film Festival,” adding, “This place is full of attention draws.”

With pictures from the 9th PIFF opening ceremony held last month and an introduction to the festival, the piece quotes Kim Dong-ho, PIFF director, as saying, “Seoul is losing its authenticity while Pusan is still a romantic port city.” Time explained, "Being Asia's movie Mecca adds to that attraction."

(Jang Jun-sun, peace@chosun.com )