'Fiction is fiction': BIFF jurors defend 'The Assassin(s)' from historical distortion accusations

BUSAN — Jurors of the 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) competition section defended the idea that feature films should be treated as works of creative expression rather than historical re-enactments or political statements following controversy over “The Assassin(s)” that prompted the movie’s cast and crew to cancel their appearances at the festival.

“Fiction is fiction,” Zhang Yimou, the president of this year’s jury, said during a press conference on Wednesday. “A work of fiction does not necessarily represent the truth, nor does it necessarily depict something that actually happened.”

While he had not seen “The Assassin(s),” Zhang said that it was natural for viewers to have different opinions about a film.

“I think that in itself is part of the appeal of cinema,” he said.

“The Assassin(s),” which dramatizes the 1974 assassination attempt on then-President Park Chung Hee that killed first lady Yuk Young-soo, has been criticized by conservative circles over its open ending, which suggests that the government may have been behind the shooting.

As the discourse grew, several BIFF appearances involving the director and lead actors Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il and Lee Min-ho were canceled, as was a separate public screening organized by the Busan Film Commission (BFC). BIFF and the BFC said that the cancellations came at the request of Hive Media Corp, the production company and distributor for “The Assassin(s),” which cited safety concerns.

Zhang has spent much of his career dramatizing politically and historically sensitive periods in China. His film “To Live” (1994) was banned from theatrical release in China for its depiction of the Communist Party’s Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution campaigns.

“History is something from the distant past,” he said, “but I think that art and film speak to people living today.”

Meanwhile, July Jung, the Cannes-invited director of “Next Sohee” (2023) and a BIFF juror, said that the discourse had left her feeling “deeply intimidated, even though it isn’t [her] film.”

Drawing on her experience making “Next Sohee,” inspired by the real-life death of a call center trainee, Jung said that filmmakers must consider their works’ potential harm and take responsibility.

Even so — “These days, I find myself hoping that we can simply continue making films,” she added.

The 31st BIFF marks the second year of the festival’s main competition section. This year, the top prize is an Academy-recognized qualification to be submitted for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.

The seven jurors — Zhang, Jung, Bi Gan, Kei Ishikawa, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, Samal Yeslyamova and Choi Hee-seo — will choose the winner from 13 titles and announce their decision on Oct. 15. 

Bi, the Chinese director behind the Cannes award-winning sci-fi “Resurrection” (2025) and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” (2018), said that he would look for works that “go beyond [his] own experience” and challenge him.

“You can intuitively tell when a film is bad,” he said. “But with a good film, it’s much harder to explain in a few words why it’s good.”

“I think that a good film breaks through barriers, expresses itself without restraint and connects the emotions and feelings between people,” he added.

Choi, who won BIFF’s Actress of the Year award in 2018 for “Our Body” (2018), joins Yeslyamova and Tran as the jury’s three nondirectors.

For her, a good film is “not one that gives answers, but one that leaves viewers with questions.”

She recalled recently watching Lee Chang-dong’s Venice Silver Lion winner “Possible Love” with her father and how the film started a conversation between them that they had never had before.

“It was such a valuable experience,” she said. “When a film poses a question — I think that a good film […] allows you to reflect on yourself through that question.”

This year’s BIFF will screen 316 films, including 247 official selections from 59 countries and 95 world premieres, across 31 screens at eight theaters in Busan.

“Busan is already one of Asia’s most important film festivals,” Zhang said. “Korean cinema’s international influence is growing, and films from across Asia are also making strides. The world is paying attention to Asian cinema.

“I hope that film festivals across Asia […] continue to develop so that the world can better understand the distinct qualities of our cinema and discover more great films.”

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]