(MENAFN- AFP) There was wind, there was rain but all anyone really cared about was looking at the stars as filmmakers from Asia and beyond gathered in South Korea Thursday night for a Bollywood-flavoured launch of the 20th Busan International Film Festival.
Fans donned plastic jackets and braved the final remnants of Typhoon Dujuan as they took up positions in the stands along the red carpet laid outside the Busan Cinema Centre in the South Korean port city.
The stars did not disappoint them with the likes of Chinese actress Tang Wei, and Masami Nagasawa of Japan, braving what had threatened to become a decidedly slippery surface.
Festival co-director Kang Soo-Yeon paid tribute to the resilience of those who had gathered, both inside and out.
"It's windy and rainy but so many people have come here today. It shows the passion you all have for cinema," she said.
Hollywood veteran Harvey Keitel was another of the festival's marquee guests to greet fans tonight, alongside some of the Asian filmmakers who credit BIFF with helping introduce them to the world, including Chinese director Feng Xiaogang, and Hong Kong's Johnnie To.
BIFF's Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award this year was presented to Japan's Studio Ghibli and its chairman, producer Suzuki Toshio, took the honours on behalf of the animation masters, founded by director Hayao Miyasaki and responsible for the likes of the Oscar-winning feature "Spirited Away" (2001).
The event styles itself as the most influential of its kind in a region enjoying stellar growth in box-office receipts and increasing clout in the global movie market.
BIFF's founding mission was to celebrate the global reach of cinema and champion the cause of the industry in Asia, and Thursday's opening ceremony was aimed at reflecting its success in reaching those goals.
The main feature Thursday was the world premiere of debut Indian director Mozez Singh's "Zubaan" -- a coming-of-age drama about a young Sikh who finds his way in life through music. It was the first time a Bollywood offering has opened BIFF.
"What I wanted to say with my film is that in order for you to reach your own dreams, you have to learn to be yourself," said Singh.
Hosting duties for the opening ceremony were shared between South Korean actor Song Kang-Ho and Afghan actress Marina Golbahari.
With the weather worsening, workers had toiled overnight to prepare both the Busan Cinema Centre and the city's Haeundae beach, where many of the festival's events are held.
These include "Open Talks" with the stars and, for the first time this year, a "Casting Board" event aimed at introducing up-and-coming Asian acting talent to international filmmakers.
Singh said he felt "extremely humbled" that his film was given the opportunity to open the festival on its 20th birthday.
"This is a super platform for any filmmaker and I wish all of us luck and the opening of many exciting new cinematic doors," he said.
This year's BIFF will screen 304 movies from 75 countries, including 94 world premieres, a number of them produced by the rising stars of Asian cinema.
Films already being heralded as Oscar contenders are also spread around the festival's various programmes, including Hou Hsiao-Hsien's sumptuous martial arts epic "The Assassin".
While BIFF has struggled with funding issues over the past year, Asia's film industry as a whole is booming.
The combined box office receipts of Asia's biggest movie markets -- China, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia -- out-earned North America for the first time last year by $10.5 billion to $10.4 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
Much of that was down to China, where box-office takings surged 38 percent from 2013 to $4.8 billion.
Growth in the first eight months of this year is estimated to have been even higher at 49 percent, and the Chinese market alone is expected to out-earn North America by 2018.
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