Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has unveiled plans to launch its first-ever competition section as part of a wider programming and team revamp that coincides with its 30th anniversary.
The festival, set to run from September 17-26, will showcase around 14 Asian films in the new competition strand. Five awards will include the grand prize, best director, special jury prize, best actor/actress and artistic contribution. The grand prize winner will screen as the festival’s closing film, marking a change to previous years when a separately selected title was shown.
BIFF first announced it would transition to a competitive format after last year’s edition. The New Currents and Jiseok strands, which previously served as platforms for the festival’s awards, will be folded into the new competition section.
At a press conference held at the Busan Cinema Center today (April 29), BIFF chairperson Park Kwang-su explained the motivation behind the move. “We are aiming to discover and introduce the excellence and diversity of Asian cinema more actively and contribute to further elevating the status of Asian films in the global film industry,” he said. “The selection of jury members is underway.”
The trophies will be designed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the acclaimed Thai filmmaker behind Cannes Palme d’Or-winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and 2021 Cannes jury prize winner Memoria.
Further changes to the programme will see BIFF’s Korean Cinema Today Vision strand expanded into two sections – Vision-Asia and Vision-Korea – with 12 films selected for each. These are set to be independent films that “offer a glimpse into the future of Korean and Asian cinema”.
Organisers added that the festival is set to feature around 240 films this year, up from the 224 selected for the previous edition and edging closer to its pre-pandemic levels of up to 300 titles.
“After 30 years of growth alongside Asian cinema, we’re looking ahead to present a new vision for the next three decades,” added chairperson Park.
Team changes
The press conference marked the first public appearance and comments from Jung Hanseok since he was promoted last month from Korean cinema programmer to festival director.
He has set goals to strengthen BIFF’s solidarity with Asian cinema, address the ongoing downturn that has hit the Korean film industry and generate a more audience-friendly festival through high-profile films and guests.
“As we all know, the film industry is facing significant challenges at the moment,” Jung said. “We aim to bring new energy through our programming while using our forums to explore potential solutions.”
Organisers also used to occasion to introduce Karen Park as their new programme director. Park, who first worked at the festival in 2009, steps up from her role as BIFF programmer for titles from Latin America, Eastern Europe, the UK and Australia.
She replaces Nam Dong-chul, who joined BIFF as a programmer in 2013 before being named programme director in 2019. Nam was appointed interim festival director in 2023 following the resignation of Huh Moonyung – the first in a string of top-level departures at the organisation that year.
He returned to his programme director role last year, telling Screen he did not want to take on the festival director role full-time. Nam, who was previously general manager at the then-named Asian Film Market from 2008 to 2013, had left for “personal reasons”, according to BIFF.
Further changes will see filmmaker Min Kyu-dong, whose The Old Woman With The Knife screened at the Berlinale in February, oversee the production of the opening and closing ceremonies in a bid to create more impactful events. It marks the first time a creative from outside the organisation will have handled these elements of the festival.
This year’s landmark edition of BIFF, held in the South Korean port city of Busan, is set to take place nearly a month earlier than usual, to avoid the country’s national holiday period that falls in mid-October. It remains one of the leading film festivals in Asia and will see associated industry platform the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) run parallel from September 20-23.
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