PIFF goes out with a whimper

by javabeans

In stark contrast with its star-studded opening night, the 13th Pusan International Film Awards closed after nine days with a night much lacking in glitz or stars.

Maybe it was just a lackluster year, or maybe Choi Jin-shil’s untimely death cast a pall over opening night, or maybe celebrities went up to Seoul to pay their respects and didn’t return to Busan. In any case, stars were few and far between at the closing ceremony on the 10th.

In fact, Yeh Ji-won (Old Miss Diaries, looking gorgeous all festival long) and Jo Jae-hyun (New Heart), above, were two of only a very few famous faces to walk the red carpet. (The only other top names present were Hyun Bin and Lee Bo-young, and even then I’m not sure I’d call them A-list. Maybe B+.)

 
That doesn’t mean the festival itself was sparsely attended — approximately five thousand attendees came out to the closing ceremony despite the drizzle. And there were a number of actors who were present — they just weren’t the A-listers we saw in the festival’s opening days.

(Those present included Ahn Sung-ki, Im Ha-ryong (Dad in Strongest Chil Woo), Lee Young-ha (Dad in Love & Marriage), Park Joon-kyu (Heavenly Beauty Park Jung-geum), musical actor Park Sang-myun, Jeon No-min (Strongest Chil Woo), Japanese actress Kaho, and director Im Kwon-taek (Beyond the Years).)

 
I’m Happy co-stars Hyun Bin and Lee Bo-young walk the carpet together:

Jeon No-min (Strongest Chil Woo) and Kang Soo-yeon (Moon Hee):

Via Mk.co.kr

RELATED POSTS

• Cast of “I’m Happy” looking decidedly unhappy at PIFF
• Boy Meets Boy at PIFF
• Premiere’s Rising Stars 2008
• More PIFF red carpet at APAN’s Star Road
• Pusan International Film Festival’s opening night