Talks Horror, Catalunya and Korean Cinema
- Could you tell us about your background and how you came to this line of work?
First it started with music, then video and then I got into distribution. I also had a video store in Barcelona while I was also buying rights to distribute films in Spain. They were mostly horror films through a larger distribution company. After that, I became a part of the Sitges Film Festival and along with that I’ve done some production work and scriptwriting.
- It seems like your preference is genre films?
There is no good movie that you can’t like; I love film noir, Indian films and classical Hollywood films as well. When I was a kid, horror films scared me a lot. My parents were very liberal and they didn’t have problems with me watching things on TV. I was fascinated and inspired by horror films. My first memory of a horror film is when Bela Lugosi is talking to Boris Karloff through a very small window in The Raven (1935).
- Did becoming a producer/writer change how you perceive films?
Yes, after I started writing scripts, I began to understand the mechanics of filmmaking and how what you write ends up dictating the finances of the movie. Any experience in movies, even with distribution, can make you appreciate them in a positive way. There are things that are difficult to come up with in films. For the rest of the world, they only know what they see, and it is hard to tell how much effort goes into it.
- Comparing Korean genre films to genre films of other nations, what makes Korean genre films stand out?
I think everyone can agree that all Korean films look fantastic. They’re glossy, even the non-commercial ones. The Korean-look is something that exists and people appreciate that. Even in genre films, it is the same: they all look good.
If you’re talking mostly horror, in the last 15 years, it has had a few up and downs. The down side is that scripts could be better, but this happens everywhere around the world.
- Who are some of the familiar Korean faces at Sitges?
There are many! Korean films have been with us for ages, starting with KIM Ki-young’s Insect Woman (1972) when YOON Yeo-jeon won the Best Actress Award. The average number of Korean films at Sitges per year is 15.
After the Korean film boom in the early 2000s with Swiri (1999), then 2000-2003, everyone was interested in Korean films. In 2003, we organized a Korean day and attendees included KIM Jee-woon, Into the Mirror (2003) director KIM Sung-ho and more. Then Oldboy(2003) changed everything. PARK Chan-wook came the next year for the first time and has been at the festival three times. Bong Joon Ho, YIM Pil-sung and RYOO Seung-wan have also attended as guests. Some of the Korean films were sold to Spanish territories after screening at Sitges.
- Could you tell us about the different programs at Sitges?
We have the main competition section called Official Fantastic, which includes Sitges 47, Panorama, and Orbita. New Visions programs more transgressive and daring films, Midnight X-treme programs gore and horror films for young audiences. Focus Asia selects Asian films, but Asian films are programmed throughout all other sections as well. Seven Chances is the critics section, Sitges Family is for kids, Brigadoon is the freestyle area reserved for amateur films and Anima’t is for animations. Now we have a subsection inside New Visions, which features both fiction and non-fiction because we do a lot of documentaries. This year we have a fabulous South Korean documentary called Non-fiction Diary, where we can see the dark side of Korean society from a very Korean perspective. There is also a subsection called Experimental which is available for low-budget films. Most recently, we came up with Phonetastic, our new baby for mobile phone films.
- What are some of your favorite Korean films and some non-Korean films?
I really liked the recent New World (2013), the original The Housemaid (1960), and the works of PARK Chan-wook. I also like smaller films. Recently I watched Dear Dictator, a very tense, psychological drama and enjoyed it. As for non-Korean films, if we’re talking horror, there are two obscure films I really like. One is called Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971), and another that we screened at Sitges on a 35mm print was Messiah of Evil (1973). PARK Chan-wook was so excited to watch Messiah of Evil and was in the audience. If we’re talking general non-horror films, one that I really love is William Wyler’s The Best Years of our Lives (1946).
- Is there a specific genre or style of film that Sitges audiences prefer?
We’re good at taking care of our minorities so we provide different sections to cover all tastes, even if the audience may be small. But three major things that our audiences are looking for are the latest big films, horror films and Asian films.
- Your submissions deadline is coming to a close. Do you have any words of encouragement to those still deciding to submit?
Of course I would encourage more submissions, but if you’re unsure about your work, don’t submit. If you believe in your work, send it. Work, work and work. Suffer for your art. Sometimes even if a film is not exactly genre, it can still be a Sitges film. We’re open-minded in our selections.
