hankyoreh

Tickets for the opening film of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), kicking off on October 12, sold out less than three minutes after Internet booking opened.

Online booking began at 6 pm on September 19. Tickets for the opener, director Kim Dae-seung’s melodrama "Trace of Love," sold out after two minutes and 45 seconds and tickets for Chinese director Niang Hao’s hit comedy "Crazy Stone," the closing film, lasted only an hour and six minutes, according to the PIFF organization committee.

The opening ceremony of the nine-day event will be hosted by celebrated Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki and popular actress Moon Geun-young. Celebrity couple Cha In-pyo and Shin Ae-ra are set to host the closing ceremony.

Tickets can be booked through the PIFF Internet site (piff.org) or the "PIFF cash" site (ticket.piff.org). Tickets also are available at the nationwide branches of Pusan Bank, as well as temporary box offices in the Haeundae and Nampo-dong districts of Busan. There are special deals for films playing early in the day, as well as a special ticket for three of the festival’s midnight movies for W10,000 (US$10) in total. The festival will run until October 20.

The PIFF public relations team noted that it had been four years since a Korean movie was selected as the opening film. "The Coast Guard" opened the festival in 2002. The team cited that fact in explaining the quick selling out of tickets, compared to the 13 minutes and 40 seconds it took for Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien’s "Three Times," last year’s opener, to sell out.