Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, October 2-11) has revealed the full line-up for its 29th edition, which will open with the world premiere of Netflix period drama Uprising, produced and co-written by Park Chan-wook, and close with Eric Khoo’s Spirit World, starring Catherine Deneuve.
At a press conference in Seoul today (September 3), it was also announced that Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa will receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award, while organisers addressed ongoing funding challenges facing the festival.
Uprising marks the first time a streaming title has been set as the opening feature of Asia’s largest film festival. The South Korean film is directed by Kim Sang-man and tells the story of two unlikely childhood friends – one a slave, the other his young master – who turn adversaries amidst a raging war. The cast is led by Gang Dong-won and Park Jeong-min.
It also marks the first collaboration between Netflix and Park, one of South Korea’s most acclaimed filmmakers whose credits include Cannes award-winning features Oldboy and Decision To Leave as well as recent US drama series The Sympathizer.
Closing film Spirit World stars French icon Deneuve as a world-renowned singer who dies after performing at a concert in Tokyo and meets a lifelong fan in the afterlife, played by Masaaki Sakai. It marks a return to Busan for Singaporean director Khoo, who premiered debut feature Mee Pok Man in competition at the festival in 1995 before going on to play at Cannes with 12 Storeys, My Magic and Tatsumi. The France-Singapore-Japan co-production is sold by Goodfellas.
Kurosawa will be honoured with the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award fresh from the Venice premiere of Cloud, which has been selected as Japan’s entry for the Oscars, and Serpent’s Path, which will receive its international premiere at San Sebastian later this month. Both will screen at Busan.
A total of 224 films, comprising features and shorts, have been selected for this year’s edition. A further 55 films will be screened as part of the festival’s Community BIFF outreach programme.
It marks an 8% increase in titles, from 209 screenings in 2023. “This is the result of efforts to maintain a scale befitting Asia’s top film festival through self-financing, despite the 50% cut in government subsidy compared to last year,” according to a BIFF statement. To handle the increase in screenings, Busan’s KOFIC Theater has been secured as an additional venue alongside the likes of Busan Cinema Center, CGV Centum City and Lotte Cinema Centum City.
The cuts reflect the current South Korean government’s move away from funding for the arts. BIFF has also yet to appoint a new festival director, following a string of top-level departures last year. Pak Dosin, who was previously a senior programmer at the festival, was named co-deputy director alongside Kang Seung-ah in March to oversee this year’s edition. The dual leadership approach will be overseen by chairperson Park Kwang-su and Ellen Y. D. Kim, who was named director of the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) earlier this year.
The 18 titles that will play across the competitive New Currents and Jiseok strands were revealed last week. Dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who fled his native Iran earlier this year before appearing in Competition at Cannes with The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, has been named president of the New Currents jury.
BIFF also previously revealed that it will honour late South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun at the upcoming festival with several screenings and a posthumous Korean Cinema Award. A retrospective dedicated to Portuguese film director Miguel Gomes, comprising eight titles, has also been announced along with new section Teen Spirit, Teen Movie, featuring Asian coming-of-age films such as Tiger Stripes, My Sunshine and Happyend.
A new Documentary Audience Award will also be given this year to promote Asian documentary films and filmmaking, which includes a prize of $7,500 (KRW10m).
Running alongside the festival, the Asian Contents and Film Market (ACFM) will launch a Producers Hub this year, featuring Korea as its first Focus Country. Seminars dedicated to AI and streaming will be held during the ACFM.
In addition, the 6th Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards will take place on October 6, with 11 categories featuring 41 nominees, led by Netflix’s Cigarette Girl, Wong Kar Wai’s Blossoms Shanghai, PTS Taiwan’s Imperfect Us and South Korean Netflix series A Killer Paradox.
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