The Koreans have learned from the best. Pusan is Cannes down to a tee. The rolling beaches, the beautiful starlets, the films… and the traffic jams. The bus taking us to the opening ceremony has had to make a three km detour for a matter of two hundred meters. But it’s all worth it in the end, because the Koreans don’t do things small. There must be 12,000 people here at the Outdoor Theatre in Haeundae, most of them Korean stars. The shrieks of the 30 year old woman next to me cues me in to which stars are hot for the moment, and which are not.

Then there are the usual accoutrements of A, B and C-listers walking the red carpet. The actors from the Asian-American showcase “Dim Sum Funeral”, Russell Wong and Steph Song, make an appearance, as do festival jury head Anna Karina, and James Kyson Lee from NBC’s “Heroes”. The loudest welcome, of course, is reserved for the A-list Korean stars like Jang Dong-gun, star of the 2004 war epic “Taegukgi”.

But it is the Dalen Shitembarov, the 9 year old child actor from the fest’s opening film, Rustem Abdrashev’s “The Gift to Stalin” that captures the heart of all present, as he runs up and down the red carpet, giving hi-fives to the audiences, genuinely delighted to be the star of the night.

And what a night it is. Fears of a failing local industry are thrown to the wind, as festival director Kim Dong-ho proclaims Pusanthe “cornerstone for enhancing Korean and Asian film industries”. Then Korean soprano Shin Young takes the stage and to the tune of Habanera from the opera Carmen, fireworks spill out into the night sky, heralding the beginning of yet another nine days of movies, markets and mayhem. Then the lights dim, the great three story tall movie screen lights up with the opening credits of “Stalin”, and all present lean forward in anticipation. Pusan is just like Bizet’s fiery heroine. Unpredictable and chaotic, but unforgettable and irresistible.