Acclaimed Korean filmmaker Yim Soon-rye received the honorary Etoile du Cinema award at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) on Saturday, October 7, at an event hosted in partnership with Screen International.

French writer/director Bertrand Bonello presented Yim with the award, which is bestowed on talent revered by Korean-French film fans.

The ceremony took place during ‘French Night’ at BIFF at the Paradise Hotel in Busan, held by the French Embassy in Korea and Unifrance.

Lim is known for a string of features including Korean hostage crisis drama The Point Men, which opened in territories around the world earlier this year, and 2014 local hit Whistle Blower. Over a career spanning three decades, her credits also include Three Friends and Waikiki Brothers, which won awards at BIFF in 1996 and 2001 respectively, and more recently 2018’s Little Forest.

Bonello, whose latest feature The Beast plays in the Gala Presentation strand of BIFF, said on stage: “Director Yim Soon-rye and I have a different film style, but we have something in common in making films with the theme of freedom.”

Further guests in attendance included BIFF interim festival director Nam Dong-chul, KOFIC chairman Park Ki-yong, French CNC director of European and international business Jeremy Kessler, and Agathe Vinson, Bertrand Jadot and Ludovic Guillot of the French Embassy in Korea.

 

 

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