The Pusan International Film Festival just keeps getting flashier. Celebrity film-makers and performers will make 2010′s PIFF even more irresistible for the motion picture industry.

The Pusan International Film Festival said on its website Wednesday that the annual weeklong event in the southern South Korean city will open on Oct. 7 with Zhang’s “Under the Hawthorn Tree,” a love story set in China’s decade-long ultra-leftist Cultural Revolution that will premiere in the country next week.

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The eight-day program will close with “Camellia,” a three-part film shot in the festival’s host city by directors from South Korea, Japan and Thailand.

Overall, the festival will feature 103 world premieres — 82 for feature productions and 21 for short films — including special sections on Czech and Kurdish cinema.

Stone will promote his new release “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” and be honored in a hand-printing ceremony. French actress Binoche will discuss her Cannes-winning role in Abbas Kiarostami’s “Certified Copy.” The movie’s Iranian director is also serving as dean of the festival’s annual film academy.

China’s Tang Wei, reportedly banned in her home country after playing a traitor in Ang Lee’s 2007 spy thriller “Lust, Caution,” will continue her comeback, promoting “Late Autumn,” an English-language remake of a 1966 South Korean drama that co-stars Hyun Bin.

Veteran Taiwanese cinematographer Mark Lee and Japanese costume designer Emi Wada will give master classes.

Wada is also chairing the five-member jury for the festival’s flagship New Currents prize for young filmmakers. “Lost” star, Korean-American Kim Yun-jin, is also on the panel.

Organizers will also present their annual Asian Filmmaker of the Year award to Malaysian Tsai Ming-liang, best known for exploring isolation and loneliness in slow-paced art-house productions with minimal dialogue and music.

Damn! Not that I care about seeing celebrities! But, this year, my work schedule is prohibitive. In past years, I’ve watched as many as three films a day, with an average of one-and-a-half each day not uncommon. With increased attention from celebrity figures comes better films, which is really all I care about. Zhang Yimou is a great get. I’m not going to be getting much sleep in October, I fear.

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Filed under: Movies/Media, Spleen Tagged: oliver stone, piff, pusan international film festival, zhang yimou