Pusan festival mixes Asian film, Hollywood glamor

One of Asia's top film festivals will kick off on Thursday with a focus on regional cinema and a touch of Hollywood glamor.

The 14th Pusan International Film Festival in the South Korean beach resort town will kick off with the world premiere of "Good Morning President," Jang Jin's political drama about the lives of three fictitious South Korean presidents.

South Korean cinema is being spotlighted amid the industry's recent strong showing against foreign competition. The disaster film "Haeundae" recently became the country's biggest hit in three years, beating Hollywood competitors, including "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." Local films enjoyed a market share of 45 percent in the first half of the year — up from 37 percent a year ago — according to figures from the Korea Film Council.

Organizers are also staging retrospective screenings for South Korean directors Ha Kil-chong and Yu Hyun-mok.

The nine-day, 9.9 billion South Korean won ($8.5 million) festival will show 355 movies from 70 countries — 98 of which will be world premieres.

"Pearl Harbor" star Josh Hartnett and "X-Men" director Bryan Singer will add a dash of Hollywood flavor. Hartnett is promoting his thriller "I Come with the Rain" and Singer will discuss the horror film "Trick 'r Treat," which he produced. French director Costa Gavras and Italian horror expert Dario Argento are giving master classes, as are Hong Kong director Johnnie To and Venice Film Festival winner Jia Zhangke.

Veteran Indian director and producer Yash Chopra will receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award.

The festival will close with the Chinese spy thriller "The Message," directed by Taiwan's Chen Guo-fu and China's Gao Qunshu.