Korea Times reported:

The 13th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) closed Friday with the premiere of the South Korean film “I Am Happy” directed by Yoon Jong-chan.

This year’s festival featured the largest number of films and world premiers, receiving good response from audiences. But the festival, the largest of its kind in Asia, has an air of calm rather than extravagance.

Asia’s largest cinematic event featured a record number 315 films from 60 countries, including 85 world premieres and 95 Asian premiers at 37 theaters over the nine-day run.

The variety of films led to large audience figures. According to PIFF organizers, a total of 198,818 people participated in the event, slightly up from last year.

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CRIEnglish.com reported, “The thirteenth Pusan International Film Festival opened Thursday night in South Korea with more than a hundred top stars from South Korea and overseas in attendance.”

“China’s portal Web site, Sina, reported that 315 films from 60 countries will be shown during the festival. The opening movie was Kazakh director Rustem Abdrashev’s “The Gift to Stalin.”

“The film festival was overshadowed by the death of South Korean actress Choi Jin-sil, who committed suicide earlier that day. The audience observed a brief moment of silence for the popular star at the end of the opening ceremony.”

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