The Busan International Film Festival 2024 begins on October 2 with the international premiere of Uprisingthe historical war epic by director Kim Sang-man with a screenplay by auteur Park Chan-wook (Old boy) and distributed by Netflix. The 29th edition of the 10-day event will end with the film by Singaporean director Eric Khoo Spirit worldwith French film legend Catherine Deneuve in the leading role.
“Uprising is a charming historical drama put together by an excellent team of directors, writers and actors, while Khoos Spirit world is a co-production that explores the fundamental questions of human existence and the meaning of life through beautiful cinematic expression,” said Park Do-shin, the festival’s deputy director, who was previously Busan’s chief programmer. Uprising is also the first streaming title to be invited as the opening film of the festival.
Park Kwang-su, a former director who was appointed chairman of the festival in February, assured Busan fans in a press conference on Tuesday that this year’s event will revive some of the old festival’s well-known traditions.
“When we looked at last year’s event, we realized that some things that should have been there were missing,” Park said. “We decided to bring back offline daily newspapers that were only published online. We will also reinstate the shuttle bus and a festival lounge where guests and visitors can relax and socialize.”
These small changes mean a lot to festival organizers, who have managed to increase the number of screenings by 8 percent compared to last year, despite government subsidies being almost halved this year. The official selection includes 224 films from 63 countries, thanks to the increase in corporate sponsors. This year’s Busan will show 279 films, including 13 international premieres and 86 world premieres.
The highlight of this year’s BIFF will be the films of Kurosawa Kiyoshi, winner of the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award and the Japanese screenwriter and director known for his psychological horror films such as cure (1997). Two of his latest films will be shown in Busan — Snake Path And Cloudwhich recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
Other Asian authors featured at the festival include director Jia Zhankes Caught by the tides, an epic history of modern China, and Mohammad Rasoulof’s The seed of the holy fig, a stark reflection of Iran’s political landscape and the oppression of women.
The festival also provides a platform for titles by a number of legendary European filmmakers, including Bruno Dumont’s The Empirewhich won the Silver Bear of the Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival, and Sean Baker’s AnoraWinner of the Golden Palm in Cannes. The spotlight will also be on the films of Miguel Gomes, who won the award for best director in Cannes this year for Grand Tour.
Busan has also expanded its screenings of Korean commercial films this year, including Bogota: City of the Lost, a crime drama with Song Joong-ki about immigrants to Colombia and Listen to me: Our summera Korean remake of the legendary Taiwanese romance. The festival also dedicates a special section to the memory of Lee Sun-kyun, the late parasite actor who died last year, including his former Paju (2009), Our Sunhi (2013) and a TV series Sir (2018), in addition to a screening of parasite.
Director Lee Ran-hee celebrates a comeback with her second feature film The last semester after her debut film Leave (2020) is running in the New Currents section in Busan. Another Busan regular, Park Songyeol, returns with Kike will hit a home run.
The film adaptation of the famous Japanese television series Lonely Gourmet will have its premiere in Busan in an open-air cinema. The French thriller Night call is also presented at Midnight Passion, a film dedicated to thrillers, horror and action films that will keep die-hard fans of the genre awake all night.
On the market side, over 2,500 film and industry professionals from more than 50 countries are expected to attend this year, interested in business deals, content promotions and co-production opportunities.
This year’s Asia Contents and Film Market (ACFM), which begins on October 5, will feature a series of industry panels with participants from major studios such as Amazon, Netflix and DMP Studios.
The forums will feature sessions on a wide range of topics, including integrating AI technologies into content production and how Asia’s intellectual property and film industries can leverage the latest technology.
Stability AI, known for providing open-source AI services, will hold a keynote discussion on the far-reaching impact of generative AI, including tools like Stable Diffusion. Gioo S. Gainor, who leads production of Amazon Studios’ Amazon Original Movies, and TJ Falls, vice president of visual effects at Lucasfilm, will join the discussions.
This year’s market also launches a Producer Hub, a networking program for producers seeking international co-productions and financing.
