Preparations for the Busan International Film Festival have come to a standstill, following a yearlong conflict between the organizers of the global film event and the Busan Metropolitan Government, the event’s major sponsor.

“We can’t stand by and not do anything,” said Lee Hyo-jin, a member of BIFF’s public relations team, in a phone interview Wednesday. “But compared to last year, preparations are not going as they normally would.”

The two sides have been embroiled in a protracted dispute over the festival’s autonomy since September 2014, when BIFF screened the controversial documentary “The Truth Shall Not Sink with the Sewol” against Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo’s wishes. BIFF organizers and supporters say Busan Metropolitan Government’s attempt at censorship is a great threat to freedom of expression. A coalition of filmmakers have even threatened to boycott the festival.

Amid such turmoil, many are beginning to question if the annual festival’s 21st edition, slated for this October, will take place at all.

Most BIFF insiders are determined to make it happen, but torn on what to do in the current state of limbo.

BIFF is still awaiting the results of a prosecutorial investigation into its former executive director Lee Yong-kwan, who had clashed with Suh over BIFF’s autonomy. Also pending is a ruling on the legitimacy of the appointment of 68 new members to the advisory committee -- an appointment Lee made.

“Under these circumstances, realistically, we can’t fully focus on preparation, which includes inviting foreign films and directors,” said Lee.

“Internally, the consensus is that we should go ahead with this year’s festival,” she said. “But we’re not sure.”

A handful of foreign film industry personnel have shown their support on social media through the hashtag campaign #ISupportBIFF.

“Foreign filmmakers seem even more sensitive to the issue of censorship,” said Song Eun-jeong, secretary-general of the Korea Film Producers Association. “Many have expressed regret at what’s happening here.”

Korea is not the only Asian country to have witnessed tension between politics and cinema recently. Just last week, China-based TV channels pulled out from broadcasting the Hong Kong Film Awards after it nominated “Ten Years” -- a movie with a politically sensitive theme  -- for Best Film, AFP reported. The movie nabbed the top prize, but the Chinese state media did not report the win.

The local film industry has also been rallying actively for BIFF. On March 24, some 148 Korean directors, led by Kim Jho Gwangsoo, signed a public statement of support and held a press conference.

“I debuted at the festival in 2006,” Leesong Hee-il, the director of “No Regret,” told reporters.

“It’s been exactly 10 years. (BIFF) offered a big opportunity for me. It was a springboard that led to other international film festivals and networking. ... We all worked hard together for the past 20 years to develop it into a global event. It’s such a shame that it has to be in danger like this because of politics.”

Director Kim Dong-won, an authority in the Korean indie movie scene, lamented the fact that the festival’s existence was being threatened because of one “shoddy” movie.

“I don’t even like ‘The Truth.’ I don’t think it’s a well-made movie,” he said. “I can’t believe that Asia’s biggest film festival is being shaken because of it. ... But the freedom to show it should still be guaranteed. I ask that mayor Suh Byung-soo return the festival back to normal.”

Power struggle

One main point of contention concerns the position of the chairman of BIFF’s organizing committee, a post automatically taken up by Busan’s mayor -- currently Suh Byung-soo -- according to BIFF’s bylaws. Under the festival’s current organizational structure, the chairman has the highest authority and presides over the general assembly, which consists of the board, the executive committee and the advisory committee.

Another issue concerns former executive director Lee Yong-kwan’s appointment of 68 new members -- comprised of actors and filmmakers who support BIFF’s autonomy -- to the advisory committee, which formerly had 39 members. 

Suh has called the members “unqualified” and filed an injunction to have their appointment nullified. With the new members, the advisory committee now makes up the majority of the general assembly -- the festival’s decision-making body -- and can sway votes to amend BIFF’s bylaws.

BIFF has argued that the appointment was a necessary one that did not violate any bylaws. “We had to find a way to guarantee the festival’s independence ... and that’s what we came up with,” said chief programmer Kim Ji-seok in reports.

Timeline of BIFF conflict

The conflict between the Busan Metropolitan Government and BIFF began in September 2014 when Suh asked that the festival cancel the screening of “The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol,” a documentary by Lee Sang-ho and Ahn Hae-ryong, which suggests that the Park Geun-hye administration mishandled the rescue process during the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster that claimed more than 300 lives.

BIFF, however, went ahead with the screening on Oct. 7 that year, calling the government’s request a “threat to the festival’s identity and existence.”

One month later, the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea began investigating BIFF. In September 2015, it announced in a report that the festival had been mismanaging the government subsidies it receives and ordered that the subsidies be returned.

In December that year, the Busan Metropolitan Government filed charges against the festival’s then executive director Lee for illegally issuing brokerage fees to organizations with insufficient evidence of their activities.

While the Busan Metropolitan Government maintained that the charge had been brought solely based on findings in the audit report, BIFF called it an “act of retaliation” for screening the documentary. It added that while there had been an administrative error in the process of issuing fees, it was merely a technical error that would be rectified immediately.

Some two months later, on Feb. 18, Suh resigned from his post as BIFF chairman, saying he would “hand over the position to private parties.” He simultaneously announced that executive director Lee, whose 10 year term was coming to an end, would not be reappointed.

BIFF rebutted that Suh’s resignation was no more than a formality, and that he had not actually yielded authority over the festival’s workings.

The next day, Lee appointed 68 new members to the festival’s advisory committee.

At BIFF’s general assembly on Feb. 25, members called for an extraordinary meeting to amend the festival’s bylaws that give automatic chairmanship to Busan’s mayor and to reinstate Lee as executive director. Suh, who had been presiding over the meeting, blocked the motion and exited the venue.

With no chairman and no executive director, BIFF’s sole leadership was handed over to the co-executive director, actress Kang Soo-yeon.

In March, Suh held a press conference announcing his disapproval of the new advisory committee members. Suh subsequently filed an injunction to nullify their appointment, which is currently being reviewed by the Busan District Court.

An ad hoc committee of Korean filmmakers protested the injunction two days later on March 16, threatening to boycott BIFF and leave the “red carpet empty for the first time for the whole world to see,” unless the festival’s autonomy was guaranteed.

On March 17, former executive director Lee was questioned for 17 hours at the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office concerning charges of embezzlement of BIFF funds. The results are yet to be announced.

By Rumy Doo (doo@hearldcorp.com)