I went to see some new Asian cinema at the Pifan International Fantastic Film Festival. All the volunteers got a real kick out of seeing a whitey at their cute little event. They were in clumps of six or seven around the district, and one would say something in Korean. I do the natural thing and say “Annyong Hasseyo”, hello in Korean, only to be met with wails of laughter.
Anyhow I survived. There was a NZ section of films, an Audrey Hepburn section as well as an Italian 60s horror special! On this day I got to see a special press Q & A for “Wicked Flowers”, a new Japanese indie film, with the director (who looked like the main star!) and the two main cast.
One of the organisers who helped me with directions over the phone came up to me afterwards to chat, and ended up driving me to the next event which was a screening of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” set to a live accompaniment of a Korean electronic and singong artist. At first I thought, oh Jesus, he’s just playing a NIN CD! But as the sounds twisted and turned, his voice sounding like a power tool industrial instrument, I realised I was witnessing something pretty fucking amazing.
