Replicating an ad for a sex bar in Bucheon, KR -- My annual summer vacay!

Every summer, I head over to the sweltering, muggy heat of Bucheon (about a 40 minute subway ride from Seoul) to attend the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, or Pifan, for short. It’s one of my favorite film festivals to attend because they primarily showcase Asian and international genre films — sci-fi, horror, mystery, slasher, action — you name it. There lineup is always solid and this year doesn’t disappoint. I mean, where can you see an omnibus of the best genre films, coupled with Korean rock bands playing in front of City Hall, and midnight marathon showcases (this year is the 10th anniversary of Ju-On: The Grudge with writer-director Takashi Shimizu in attendance and 4 of the Ju-On films back-to-back). In fact, the majority of the festival’s audiences are young women. Why do you ask? It’s simply put that young Korean men are too busy playing WoW and other online games to care about films, which they’ll just download anyway. 

But, what makes Pifan so fun is its location: the beautiful and culturally vibrant Bucheon City! I always found it quite strange to have a fantastic film festival in a municipality devoid of any culture and caters to Korean businessmen looking for a good time. Case in point: All festival guests are booked in love hotels because that’s pretty much what the city has to offer in regards to hotel accommodations! Plus, everything opens at 6pm and closes between 3am – 6am, everyday; perfectly catered for late night entertainment. 

A young festival volunteer told me that Koreans dub Bucheon as “porn city”. Can it be, an entire city as one big red light district? I’ve been to my share of RLDs and Bucheon is definitely something of a cross between old school Osaka, Kabuki-cho and urban imagery from countless Kinji Fukasaku flicks from the ’70s. But, it’s certainly tamer than say, Amsterdam or even Seoul’s RLD.

Bucheon is just old school. It’s not overt. It’s just there. 

Streets lined with pubs, BBQ restaurants, and sexy time!

It’s humorous, that’s for sure. For a love hotel, I think my hotel is pretty dope. Aside from the complete space void of a hotel hallway, my room is pretty awesome. 

Path from elevator to my hotel room reminds me of Space Mountain

It’s bigger than my apartment. Plus, I don’t have to bring any toiletries like shampoo, shaving cream, etc. Condoms, lube and the works complimentary!

Love hotel survival kit!

So, why is the festival held in Bucheon? From what I’m told, the city government funds the majority of the festival to bring in cultural/creative capital to the city. Plus, Seoul, which is nearby, is just busting with cultural/creative capital that it doesn’t need yet another film festival. Makes sense. I, for one, love Bucheon for its old school Korean misogynistic charm,  great genre films, boozing, noraebang and endless amounts of Samgyeopsal! 

Beautiful pork belly... cooked on a quartz tablet!

So, yeah, whenever you’re in Seoul, take the subway and visit Bucheon. Well, only when Pifan is happening, which takes place every mid-July.