Busan International Film Festival, Now in Its Second Year as a Competitive Festival, Expands Its Scope

[Financial News] The Busan International Film Festival, now in its 31st year, is broadening its scope as it enters its second year as a competitive festival. This year’s official selection includes 246 films from 59 countries, the largest lineup since 2019.
On the morning of the 1st, the BIFF secretariat held a press conference at Busan Cinema Center and outlined the festival’s direction and key features for this year.
The secretariat first shared encouraging news about the festival. BIFF was officially selected as an A-list festival by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), joining the ranks of major global festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
Screenings will take place at eight theaters and 31 screens, including Busan Cinema Center and CGV Centum City. During the festival period, especially from Thursday to Sunday, when attendance is highest, the number of daily screenings will increase from four to five. The expansion is designed to give audiences more opportunities to enjoy the festival’s most talked-about titles.
The competitive section, now in its second year, has also been strengthened. According to the secretariat, the quality and depth of this year’s submissions have improved significantly. A final 14 films will compete for awards during the festival. The secretariat said the invited titles represent contemporary Asian cinema.
Among the 14 competition titles are Nanako Hirose’s delicate triangle drama Between Two Lovers, which showcases her skill in moving freely between fiction and documentary, and Chen Zhiyuan’s Descendant, by a leading Chinese independent film director. Also selected are Yosep Anggi Noen’s The Name Engraved in the Sea, which highlights the scale and strength of Indonesian cinema; Majid Majidi’s Bread and Books, expected to become a new signature work for the Iranian master; and Lim Ha-yeon’s exceptional debut feature Taeju of That Day.
If last year stood out for its expansion into Netflix and other over-the-top media services (OTT), this year is notable for its major focus on animation, further widening the festival’s range. Fueled by the global sensation of KPop Demon Hunters, the festival will host a large-scale Animation Special Exhibition. A total of 13 animated features, including both shorts and feature-length works, will be screened, offering a look at the past and future of animation.
The Icons section, which spotlights the latest works by world-renowned masters, will also be presented on its largest scale yet. After expanding sharply to 33 films last year, the section sets a new record again this year with 35 invited titles. The lineup includes Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord, winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival; Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur, which won the Grand Prix; and Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, which took the Best Director award, all of which promise a deeply layered cinematic experience.
In addition, Forum BIFF, which asks and answers questions about the future of cinema, will this year serve as a platform for exploring the direction of film in a rapidly changing environment under the theme, "Discussing the possibilities of contemporary cinema." It will consist of four sections and eight sessions covering topics such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is fundamentally reshaping the conditions of creation, creators’ rights and festival support policies, and regional film governance. This year’s Forum BIFF will be held for four days from the 8th to the 11th of next month at the Video Industry Center conference hall.
Park Kwang-su, chair of BIFF, said, "I had seen the festival being mentioned in the media as one of Asia's four major film festivals and similar descriptions before, but this is the first time it has received an official evaluation from the global film community. However, whether Busan is called the 17th major festival or not, there are still many shortcomings and many issues to resolve," adding, "As a festival representing Asia, how we can walk an original path remains an ongoing concern."
[email protected] Byeon Ok-hwan Reporter