The 15th edition of Pifan, which ends this weekend in Bucheon near Seoul, is one of my favorite film festivals ever. First off, it’s a genre film festival and showcases about 200 horror, sci-fi, suspense, thrillers, anime and other genre works from around the world. Secondly, it’s located in Bucheon, the sin city of South Korea. I wrote about my last visit in 2009, and the heart of the Festival is located in the Red Light district, filled with late night pubs, bbq restaurants, hostess bars, and love hotels. It’s truly an experience, especially when you’re congregating with genre filmmakers and boozing it up every night. The atmosphere is perfect for a genre film festival; Walking along the neon-lit streets alongside drunken and staggering salarymen and room salon girls heading to work is something out of an old ’70s gangster movie. It is so nonchalant here, that the usual karaoke bar that everyone congregates at 1am is next door to a massage parlor and a church!
