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www.groovekorea.com / July 2014 76 Edited by Emilee Jennings (emilee@groovekorea.com) MuSIC & ARTS F ilm fests and foreigners on the peninsula (okay, my friends and I) have a tenuous relationship. One attempt at the Jeonju International Film Festival resulted in spending the better part of a long weekend sitting in DVD bangs due to every ticket being gobbled up far in advance via for- eigner-inaccessible websites. The few films we could see included a puke-worthy romantic comedy and an art-house flick about migrant labor in Suriname. That could actually be considered a rousing success compared to a Busan International Film Festival trip in 2009 when we arrived to the southern beach city to not only find all showings sold out, but where we proved incapable of even finding a hotel room, leaving us drunk and lying on the beach, cursing the gods for our plight. But for the last two weeks of July, the city of Bucheon, not far west of Seoul, trans- forms into what is arguably the most dynamic and cre- ative film event in the coun- try. More importantly, it’s totally accessible to foreign- ers. The Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, running July 17- 27 this year, is Korea’s only genre film fest — meaning it highlights specific genres such as horror, sci-fi, action, fantasy and documenta- ries. In addition, the method of categorizing the films is wickedly fun, such as “The Forbidden Zone,” which features only controversial or shocking flicks. The treats on offer can be as far-out as an Islamic Malaysian vampire saga. “PiFan shows some seriously heavy stuff that you can’t find at most fests in Asia,” says Frej Karlsson, who attended the last two PiFans and saw the Asian premiere of “The Human Centipede 2” in this section. Want real flms? Go FANTASTIC Puchon Fantastic Film Fest gives marginalized genres the spotlight The method of categorizing the flms is wickedly fun, such as ‘The Forbidden Zone,’ which features only controversial or shocking ficks. The treats on offer can be as far-out as an Islamic Malaysian vampire saga. Story by ian Henderson / Photos courtesy of PiFan