Two low-budget productions are among those vying for the top award at Asia’s premier film festival this week, with organisers praising their creativity despite their technical limitations. The New Currents award at the Busan International Film Festival carries with it two prizes of US$30,000 and is open to first- or second-time Asian filmmakers. Among the 10 entries this year are local director Lee Donku’s $3,000 “Fatal”, a coming-of-age drama, and Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s experimental “36”, which is set around 36 static images and was made for US$20,000. BIFF’s executive programmer Kim Ji-Seok said this year’s field represented the diversity of productions found across Asia and highlighted the two low-budget films as a reflection of the dedication needed to break in to the film industry. Previous winners of the New Currents award include Jia Zhangke who won for “Xiao Wu” in 1998 and went on to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for “Still Life” (2006). The New Currents winners will be announced on Saturday, the final day of the festival.
