Ferry disaster, politics and cinema intermingle at BIFF

Busan: A new film about the Seoul ferry sinking, a disaster that killed more than 300 people — mostly children — will premiere at Asia’s biggest film festival, which has five Years later, director Lee Sang-ho created controversy with his first documentary. On the subject

“Diving Bull,” which premiered at the 2014 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), criticized then-leader Park Geun-hye’s administration for its handling of the drowning.

In response, angry officials cut the BIFF’s $1.3 million funding by 50 percent, with the mayor of Busan at the time criticizing the film as “too political” for such an event.

The city’s action echoed the national government’s approach — more than 10,000 artists who criticized the park or expressed support for the families of Seoul victims were blacklisted.

Now, Lee’s new film, “President’s 7 Hours,” revisits the day of Seoul’s sinking and tries to unravel the mystery of Park’s seven-hour absence after news of the tragedy broke.

There was wild media speculation about what she was doing, but investigators concluded that she was at her residence for the first few critical hours after the disaster.

Park, who was later impeached and is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for bribery, extortion, abuse of power and other charges, is the reason why there has been a lack of public response to the tragedy. Never told.

According to the film’s producers, tickets for the BIFF screening of “7 Hours of President” sold out in just 10 minutes.

“I hope the fire (for justice) will spread from BIFF to every corner of the country like it did with ‘Diving Bull’ five years ago,” Lee said.

The disaster in Seoul remains a national shock, exposing a bitter political divide where families of the victims — mostly from working-class suburbs — have been criticized by right-wing groups as North Korean sympathizers. was accused of being because he criticized conservative politicians in power.

– ‘Truth never sinks’ –

The captain of the Seoul, Lee Joon Seok — one of the first to abandon the sinking ship, leaving behind hundreds of children trapped inside — was sentenced to life in prison for negligence and manslaughter.

Other crew members were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 18 months to 12 years.

But the victims’ families are demanding that those in the then-government be held accountable, and have called for fresh investigations into key figures in the Park administration, including Hwang Kyu-ahn, who was the justice minister and Now there is a central leader. Opposition Liberty Korea Party

Lee, who is also a journalist, has called for all the perpetrators to be brought to justice, accusing prosecutors of selective law enforcement.

He pointed to the speed with which the home of South Korean Justice Minister Cho Kuk was raided compared to the investigation into the role of key political figures in the Seoul incident, which involved his daughter’s admission to medical school.

Lee explained, “Let’s not forget the cry of the families of the Seoul victims who say (prosecutors) should arrest those responsible for the Seoul (tragedy)… the way they investigated Cho and his family. are doing,” Lee explained.

He added that the film ‘President’s 7 Hours’ believes that truth never sinks.

Critics accuse Lee of failing to be impartial and using his film to deflect attention from growing discontent with the progressive Moon Jae-in government, particularly in the wake of the Cho scandal.

The Busan authorities have since adopted new rules aimed at ensuring the BIFF’s independence.

Another documentary about the Seoul disaster, “Yellow Ribbon,” is also being screened at the festival this year.

For BIFF programmer Kang Soo-won, it was the politics of the host city that inspired him to screen Lee’s film.

“I personally wanted to show the film to people who live in Busan, where many residents support the main opposition Liberty Korea Party,” Kang told AFP.

“I wanted them to see and see what we had to go through (under the park’s administration).”