The Busan International Film Festival (hereafter referred to as the Busan Film Festival), which is five months away from opening, is experiencing internal conflict. On May 9, at the first extraordinary general meeting of the Busan International Film Festival, the appointment of Jo Jong-guk as the Busan Film Festival Steering Committee was approved. And two days later, Huh Moon-young, executive director of the Busan International Film Festival, expressed his appreciation. In this regard, when criticism was raised that the film festival was organized around the ‘Lee Yong-gwan line’ and that power had been inherited, the Busan Film Festival held a press conference for local media in Busan on May 15. Lee Yong-kwan, director of the Busan International Film Festival, refuted the privatization controversy and announced that he would step down as chairman once the situation was resolved. We’ve organized issue by issue what’s at the heart of the conflict currently taking place at the Busan Film Festival.
The appointment of Jo Jong-guk as chairman of the steering committee and the resignation of Heo Moon-young as executive chairman
Executive Chairman Huh Moon-young has never officially disclosed the reason for his resignation. However, the circumstances in which he submitted his resignation two days after the board of directors and an extraordinary general meeting where the appointment of Cho Jong-guk as chairman of the steering committee was approved only suggest the background. On May 15, the Busan Film Critics Association said, “In the absence of the steering committee chairman position, an extraordinary general meeting was held to create the steering committee chairman position.” It is even more problematic. it is,” he issued a statement. In addition, the film festival’s explanation that the separation of duties is necessary is not convincing, saying, “If the executive chairman cannot participate in the administration or the budget, it is clear that there will be real power the festival is captured by the action. chairman, who is more or less an assistant to the chairman.” he rebutted. On the same day, the Korean Film Producers Association also distributed a statement stating, “The Busan Film Festival must withdraw its wrong decision and make efforts to restore the chairman of the executive committee Heo Moon-young.” They explained that Chairman Lee Yong-gwan’s explanation that “the efficient operation of the film festival was a decision with a large organization and that he also discussed with Chairman Heo” is not appropriate because the executive chairman has expressed his intention to resign, and the reason for the resignation was the appointment of the executive chairman who is alleged to have
Problems raised by film organizations
Executive members representing four film organizations, including the Korean Film Directors Guild, the Korean Film Producers Guild, the Korean Film Producers Association, and the Korea Independent Film Association, agreed that there was a procedural flaw in the election of a co-executive chairman, one of the items on the agenda of the extraordinary general meeting. It is said that it is not appropriate to present a proposal to the general meeting that requires the approval of a person who has already been nominated without prior explanation on the important issue of converting the executive director of the festival to a common system. In response, the four film organizations together demanded that the proposal be canceled at the meeting of the board of directors before the extraordinary general meeting on May 9. Even if the articles of incorporation state that the chairman of the committee can be appointed work for two or less, it does not mean that a joint system can be chosen immediately, the title of steering committee chairman does not even exist in the articles. of incorporation, and the general secretary in charge of internal affairs and housekeeping already exists. The rationale was that there was no reason to create a new chairman post. However, the executive members who attended the general meeting received the explanation that the articles of incorporation are first amended through the board of directors, and considering the size of the Busan Film Festival, a steering committee chairman was needed as well as a new director with a few of experience.
Establishment of the new position of chairman of the steering committee and review of articles of incorporation
Article 6 of the Operating Regulations of the Busan International Film Festival Executive Committee stipulates the case where there are two directors. The basis for discussing the position of the chairman of the steering committee, which was not mentioned in the current articles of association, was that the current executive chairman and the chairman of the steering committee could be interpreted as two executive chairs. And in the press release announcing Cho Jong-guk’s appointment as director of the Busan International Film Festival, “Executive Chairman Heo Moon-young oversees the selection of invited films and the planning of film festival events, focusing on discovering up-and-coming directors working in Korea and Asia and looking at big movie trends around the world. We will continue to do so, and the chairman of the Steering Committee, Cho Jong-guk, will oversee corporate operation, general affairs, administration, and budget, and will focus on the operation of the organisation.” And at the board meeting held on May 9, the articles of incorporation were reviewed and the title of ‘Chairman of the Steering Committee’ was officially included. Chairman Lee Yong-gwan is known to have explained to executive members that steering committee chairman Cho Jong-guk does not have co-chairman authority because the articles of incorporation have been amended. However, since the amended Articles of Incorporation still stated that the Chairman of the Steering Committee was included in the Executive Chairman, Choi Jeong-hwa, a representative of the Korean Film Producers Guild, who attended the general meeting as a representative of film organizations, reviewed amendments extra. to the Articles of Incorporation regarding the position of Chairman of the Steering Committee, and reviewing future rules and regulations, it was requested that the Steering Committee’s limits be clearly defined through the guidelines.
Early resignation of the chairman and opposition to privatisation
Lee Yong-gwan, chairman of the Busan Film Festival, said on February 20, 2022 <국제신문>Through, “I do not intend to complete the chairman’s four-year term. He expressed his intention to resign early, saying, “I will step down in a year or two at the earliest, and in three years at the latest.” It was the month after the chairman’s 4 year term was confirmed at the extraordinary general meeting. And at the press conference, he announced that he would step down from the chairmanship once the situation has been resolved. “I believe that all the sources that caused this situation lie in the director of the film festival, who is in charge of it. I want to take responsibility for everything and express my gratitude.” Chairman Lee Yong-gwan refuted claims that he was trying to privatize the film festival by putting the ‘Lee Yong-kwan line’ on the head, and said, so why did he express his intention to leave the film festival and meet who people will lead the film festival in the future? <씨네21>asked in an interview with However, some note that the phrase ‘after the situation is resolved’ is vague, and argue that if a successor is appointed as desired, the possibility of a succession of power remains.
Disagreement on ‘Friendly Agreement’
Regarding the appointment of Jo Jong-guk as chairman of the steering committee, there are conflicting statements from the chairman and some officials of the film festival as to whether executive chairman Heo Moon-young had permission. Lee Yong-gwan, the chairman of the board, repeatedly insisted in a press conference that “there is enough evidence that Executive Chairman Huh Moon-young has consented and there is no procedural problem.” Oh Seok-keun, chairman of the Asian Film and Content Market (ACFM) of the Busan International Film Festival explained, “A few days before I went on a business trip to the Berlin International Film Festival, I was Kang Seung-ah, vice chairman of the International Film Festival Busan, met with Executive Chairman Huh Moon-young and told him about the chairman of the steering committee and the candidates.” I remembered that I went through the process of recognizing the legitimacy of the position of chairman of the steering committee by the Chairman of the Executive Committee. However, a film festival official said, “I know that Executive Chairman Huh Moon-young first heard about the plan to appoint Jo Jong-guk as chairman of the steering committee through Vice Chairman Kang Seung-ah and Oh Seok-geun. Such an important proposal was made in the absence of the chairman.” “In addition, I know that rather than establishing a new position as chairman of the steering committee, he suggested that the general secretary would be suitable and conveyed his moderate opposition. It is not reasonable in the first place to recommend his appointment without the chairman of the executive committee,” he added.
<국제신문>based on the contents of a meeting with film festival executives and staff held immediately after executive chairman Huh Moon-young was announced. According to the transcripts obtained by the media, Chairman Oh Seok-geun told the executives and employees, “Executive Chairman Huh Moon-young supported the introduction of the steering committee, but opposed the appointment of Cho Jong- guk,” and “the steering. committee (presentation) and the general budget was made in accordance with his will. It is said that the chairman had no choice but to follow one part unilaterally.”
Implementation of agreed procedures Reporting preparation and conflict of personnel
Chairman Lee Yong-kwan insists that the Busan Film Festival needs to fully examine the normal way of working, including the high proportion of private contracts (contracts concluded by arbitrarily choosing an appropriate partner when signing a sales contract, lending or subcontracting). has been The ‘Performance Report on the Agreed Procedure’ and the leader of the inspection team, which was recently prepared inside the film festival, was presented under the authority of the chairman. Kang Seung-ah, vice chairman of the executive committee, explained, “In order to improve the transparency and rationality of the contract signing process through the agreement between the chairman and the executive department, we checked the process of 289 cases of the 2022 budget . form, and a proposal was received that a department was needed to review the adequacy of the contract.” . This is the background to the application of the internal control management system after deriving a plan for a full system review and organizational reorganization, as revealed by the head of the film festival.
Two Busan Film Festival employees who appeared at the press conference appealed to the chairman and reporters about the propriety of the performance report written by the leader of the new inspection team and the recent personnel decisions and claimed that ‘selection greeting and let go’ . In response, Lee Yong-kwan, chairman of the board of directors, explained that the personnel matters could not proceed without the permission of executive chairman Heo Moon-young according to the articles of incorporation, and that the decision was made because he made the decision final. In the process of trying to change and renew before the 30th anniversary of the Busan International Film Festival, there was a communication problem behind the conflict. In this age of re-questioning the significance of film festivals, in order to overcome the crisis, we must return to the most essential question of what the organization of the film festival exists for.
* The following article continues the interview with Lee Yong-gwan, director of the Busan International Film Festival.
