Organizers of Asia’s top film festival, which opens in Busan this week, warning that a surge of global interest in the critically acclaimed South Korean movie “Parasite” masks a damaging underinvestment in local independent cinema.

Bong Joon-ho’s darkly comic tale of class war in the Seoul suburbs won the Palme D’or for best film at Cannes and is firming as an Oscar favorite next year, in what would be the first-ever win for a Korean film.

It has been sold to 192 international markets — a record for a local production — and has already grossed just over $90 million ahead of its highly anticipated October 11 release in the United States.

The film is a crowning achievement for veteran director Bong, whose works have been lauded by the likes of Quentin Tarantino and two-time collaborator Tilda Swinton.

His work has long been championed by the Busan International Film Festival, a gala event dedicated to both unearthing new independent Asian talent and connecting emerging filmmakers with financiers.

But Parasite’s breakout success “hides a crisis” in the local film industry at large, said Nam Dong-chul, program director at BIFF.

Nam said investors and cinema chains needed to help smaller independent productions find an audience in a market dominated by Hollywood-funded blockbusters.

“We have indeed been lazy with building a strong foothold where new talents can blossom,” he said. “We can take advantage of opportunity only when independent and art films have a stable market share.”