Wayne Wang - P 2014
AP Photo/Dan SteinbergSEOUL — Wayne Wang, the iconic auteur of Asian American cinema, will be visiting this year’s Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan). The 18th edition of Asia’s largest genre film event is due to take place in the South Korean city of Puchon from July 17 to 27.
Wang is best known for films exploring Asian American identity, such as Dim Sum and The Joy Luck Club as well as bigger budget works, including Maid in Manhattan. In recent years, he has worked on Hong Kong projects such as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
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PiFan will be showing his 1989 indie piece Life Is Cheap…But Toilet Paper Is Expensive. The director is due to take part in a Q&A session with the audience following the screening.
He also will be giving a master class as part of the Fantastic Film School (FFS), an intensive training program that offers new Asian filmmakers the opportunity to attend lectures and take part in workshops. The program is held as part of PiFan’s signature genre feature project market, the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF). NAFF will be held July 20-23.
This year’s FSS has invited 20 young talents from 11 countries, who were chosen among a record number of applicants (up 19 percent from last year).
In addition to the master class by Wang, FSS participants will have the opportunity to learn from a group of instructors composed of industry veterans from near and far: screenwriter Vincent Ngo (Hancock) of Ridley Scott‘s Scott Free Productions; John Heinsen, CEO of Bunnygraph Entertainment; genre film producer Mike Macari (The Ring series); Tim Kwok, CEO of Convergence Entertainment; and Anderson Le, program director of Hawaii International Film Festival.
