The 26th Busan International Film Festival opened on October 6 at the

Busan Cinema Center The Busan Cinema Center (also called "Dureraum", meaning enjoying seeing movies all together in Korean) is the official, exclusive venue of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), where its opening and closing ceremonies take place, located ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

with South Korean film '' Heaven: To the Land of Happiness'' by

Im Sang-soo Im Sang-soo (born April 27, 1962) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He has twice been invited to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, with '' The Housemaid'' in 2010 and ''The Taste of Money'' in 2012. Early li ...

Park So-dam Park So-dam (born September 8, 1991) is a South Korean actress. She came into popular recognition in the 2015 film ''The Priests'' and the TV series' ''Cinderella with Four Knights'' (2016) and ''Record of Youth'' (2020). She achieved internationa ...

and

Song Joong-ki Song Joong-ki (; born September 19, 1985) is a South Korean actor. He rose to fame in the historical coming-of-age drama ''Sungkyunkwan Scandal'' (2010) and the variety show '' Running Man'' (2010–2011) as one of the original cast members. S ...

hosted the opening of the festival, which was streamed live on YouTube. In 26th edition, 223 films from 70 countries were officially invited to the festival. 63 community service screenings were also part of the festival. In addition, this year BIFF opened two special programs, ‘New Voices, Chinese Films’ dedicated to emerging, talented Chinese directors, and the best Asian films by female directors, ‘Wonder Women Movies’, to highlight the contribution of female directors to the world of cinema. This edition of festival has constituted a new award 'Watcha Award' to be awarded to two selected films screened in the 'New Currents' section and the 'Korean Cinema Today-Vision' section. 22 short films official invited to the 'Wide Angle' competition section were screened online on YouTube and Naver. 'Vision Night' awards ceremony was held on October 14 in which winners of 'Korean Cinema Today - Vision Section' were announced. On October 15 in an online press conference the winners of 'New Currents' and other awards were announced and it was informed that 76,072 people visited the film festival in ten days. The festival closed on October 15 with closing ceremony hosted by Lee Joon-hyuk and Lee Joo-young and screening of film ''Anita'' by Longman Leung. South Korean film ''The Apartment with Two Women'' by Kim Se-in won five awards, including New Currents award.

Jury

New Currents (competition section)

* Deepa Mehta,

Indian-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The terms ''Indo-Canadian'' or ''East Indian'' are sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of ...

, international master director, screenwriter, Head Juror * Christina Nord, section head of the Berlinale Forum *

Jeong Jae-eun Jeong Jae-eun (; born March 26, 1969) is a South Korean film director. Career Jeong Jae-eun attended and was one of the first graduates of the School of Film, TV and Multimedia of the Korea National University of Arts. Early in her career she ...

, South Korean film director

Kim Jiseok Award

Reza Mirkarimi Reza Mirkarimi ( fa, رضا میرکریمی; born 27 January 1967) is an Iran, Iranian screenwriter and film director. He was also Secretary of the International Film Festival of the Fajr Film Festival. Career He graduated from Fine Arts Univ ...

, Iranian film writer and director. (Jury Chairman) * Gulnara Abikiyeva, Kazakhstan film critic and professor * Kim Haery, Member of the editorial board of the film magazine

Cine21 ''Cine21'' is a South Korean film magazine issued by '' Hangyeore newspaper''. The magazine was first published on 24 April 1995 in Seoul, and subsequent issues have continued to be released weekly. The first editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief ...

and film critic

BIFF Mecenat Award

Nanfu Wang Nanfu Wang (born 1985) is a Chinese-born American filmmaker. Her debut film '' Hooligan Sparrow'' premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017. Her second film, ''I A ...

, Chinese-born American filmmaker * Park Kyung-geun, director * Mandy Marahimin, Indonesian film producer

Sonje Award

* Bastian Mayraison, France, Asian film consultant at various film festivals around the world. (Executive Chairman, Terres d’Ici, Terres d’ailleurs) *

Royston Tan Royston Tan (; born 5 October 1976) is a Singaporean filmmaker, director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Tan is a graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, where he studied Visual Communications. He first came into prominence through his short film ...

, Singaporean filmmaker, director, screenwriter, producer and actor. * Danbi Yoon, South Korean filmmaker

Actor and Actress of the Year

Uhm Jung-hwa Uhm Jung-hwa (; born August 17, 1969) is a South Korean singer, actress and dancer. Uhm is considered to be one of the most influential women in the Korean entertainment industry, finding rare success in both music and film. Her legacy and car ...

, South Korean singer, actress and dancer * Cho Jin-woong, South Korean actor

FIPRESCI Award

* Nada Azhari Gillon, France Film Critic *

Wang Hsin Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname * Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname * Titles in Chinese nobility * A title in Korean nobility * A title in Mongolian nobility Places * Wang River in Thailand ...

, Taiwan Film Critic * Kim Nemo, Korea Film Critic

NETPAC Award

* Freddy Olsson, Sweden Senior Programmer, Göteborg Film Festival * Mevlut Akkaya, Turkey/US Director * Yoo Sun-Hee, Korea Chairperson, Beautiful Hapcheon Independent Film Festival (BHIFF)

DGK MEGABOX Award

* Kim Jae-han, Korea Director *

Jang Cheol-soo Jang Cheol-soo (born 1974) is a South Korean film director. Filmography *'' The Coast Guard'' (2002) - assistant director *'' Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring'' (2003) - 1st assistant director, assistant editor *''Samaritan Girl' ...

, Korea Director

KBS Independent Film Award

* Kim Mu-ryeong, Korea Producer * Darcy Paquet, US Film Critic, Translator * Lee Jong-pil, Korea Director

CGK Award

* Kim Byeong-jeong, Korea Cinematographer * Back Yoon-seuk, Korea Cinematographer * Lee Seon-yeong, Korea Cinematographer

Critic b Award

* Gim Jiye-on, Korea Film Critic * Park In-ho, Korea Film Critic * Hong Eun-mi, Korea Film Critic

Program sections

Sources: The festival has following sections: * Gala Presentation *

Icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

New Currents New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

* A Window on Asian Cinema * Korean Cinema Today Panorama * Korean Cinema Today Vision Section *

World Cinema World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive de ...

Flash Forward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

Wide Angle Wide angle may refer to: * Wide-angle lens, type of camera lens * ''Wide Angle'' (TV series), television series * ''Wide Angle'', 1999 album by Hybrid * ''Wide Angles'', 2003 album by Michael Brecker * Wide-angle X-ray scattering In X-ray crystal ...

* Open Cinema * Special Program in Focus ** New Voices, Chinese Films ** Wonder Women Movies * On Screen: It will showcase traditional theatrical releases and over the top media service (OTT) drama series as world premieres or Asia premieres.

Opening and closing films

Gala Presentation

Source:

Icons

New Currents

Main competition section at BIFF, showcases the works by emerging Asian directors. :Highlighted title indicates award winner

A Window on Asian Cinema

Seven films are selected to compete for the Kim Jiseok award:

Out of competition

These films are screened out of competition as part of A Window on Asian Cinema:

Korean Cinema Today - Panorama Section

Sources:

Korean Cinema Today - Vision Section

This year it has been expanded to 12 selections and will be showcased as world premiere. :Highlighted title indicates award winner

World Cinema

Source:

Flash Forward

From this edition, this section has the films that have already won awards or become hot topic at other film festivals. :Highlighted title indicates award winner

Wide Angle

Korean Short Film Competition

Asian Short Film Competition

Nominees for Mecenat Award

;Documentary Competition 10 nominations, consisting of 5 Korean and 5 Asian feature-length documentaries have been announced.

Documentary Showcase

;(Busan Cinephile Award Nominees) :Highlighted title indicates award winner ;Out of competition

Open Cinema

On Screen

Special program in focus

Wonder Women Movies

10 best Asian films by female directors selected on the basis of responses from 117 film professionals in a span of one year:

New Voices, Chinese Films

Awards and winners

;Awards The following awards will be presented at the 26th edition: *The Asian Filmmaker of the Year *Korean Cinema Award *New Currents Award *Kim Jiseok Award *BIFF Mecenat Award *Sonje Award *Actor & Actress of the Year Award **Actor of the Year: **Actress of the Year: * KB New Currents Audience Award *Flash Forward Audience Award *FIPRESCI Award *NETPAC Award *DGK MEGABOX Award *CGV Arthouse Award *KBS Independent Film Award *CGK Award (Cinematographers Guild of Korea) *Critic b Award *Watcha Award from 2021 * Citizen Critics' Award *Busan Cinephile Award

Winners

References

External links

* {{Busan International Film Festival

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festiv ...

2021 in South Korea Busan International Film Festival