The Asian Filmmaker of the Year, Actor CHOW Yun Fat

This year’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year will be awarded to the ‘Big Brother’ of Hong Kong cinema, Chow Yun Fat. He will be honored at the opening ceremony of the 28th Busan International Film Festival, and his recent film, One More Chance (2023) will be screened along with A Better Tomorrow (1986) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) as part of this year’s Special Program in Focus.

Korean American Special Program in Focus: Korean Diasporic Cinema

In recent years, with actress Youn Yuh-jung from Minari (2020) winning the 2021 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and international praise over the critically acclaimed drama series, Pachinko (2022), Korean Americans in the film industry are taking the world by storm — director Lee Isaac Chung and actor Steven Yeun of Minari (2020), directors Justin Chon and Kogonada of Pachinko (2022), actor John Cho from Searching (2018), and one of Sundance’s favorites this year, Past Lives (2023). This year, BIFF will be presenting a Special Program in Focus composed of such unique and exceptional stories of Korean Americans in Hollywood.

Indonesia Special Program in Focus: Renaissance of Indonesian Cinema

Indonesia is a rapidly emerging film powerhouse in Southeast Asia. While both arthouse and commercial films are enjoying a time of growth and prosperity, BIFF has curated the Special Program in Focus to showcase the extraordinary potential of Indonesian films by meeting some of the most salient directors of Indonesian cinema today — Edwin, Mouly Surya, Kamila Andini, and Joko Anwar, as well as short films by 5 directors who are preparing for their feature debuts.

Special Screening in Memory of the late YUN Jung-hee and the late SAKAMOTO Ryuichi

There will be a special screening of Yun Jung-hee’s most celebrated films, Mist (1967) and Poetry (2010), as a tribute to the late actress, who passed away this year. The screening of Poetry will be followed by a Special Talk with its director Lee Chang-dong. In addition, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus will be screened in memory of the film composer, Sakamoto Ryuichi who also passed away this year. Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus is a beautiful black and white film that captures the late composer’s performance, and will make the audience feel as if they are seeing his performance live.

Asian Contents & Film Market’s Record-breaking Scale of Participation

The Asian Contents & Film Market, which held a successful in-person event last year with the largest number of participants ever, will return as a ‘business-friendly’ market hosting even more participants in an even larger space establishing various partnerships with both domestic and international organizations and companies. This year, the Busan Story Market will present original content from various countries and regions, while the Asian Project Market has secured new award sponsors and supports the Korean independent film industry in cooperation with Taiwan's Rising Films. In addition, a new collaboration with the Asia Start-up Festival, FLY ASIA will promote connections between the film and audiovisual industry and emerging technology start-ups.

CHANEL X BIFF Asian Film Academy

The CHANEL X BIFF Asian Film Academy, which launched in 2022 with CHANEL signing on as co-host, has extended the program from 18 to 20 days this year. Furthermore, a script doctor has been added to its faculty to strengthen the curriculum. In addition, last year’s intake of 20 participants has increased to 24, and added elements such as the ARRI Special Training Session and alumni technical assistant are also expected to further enrich the fellows’ educational and networking opportunity experiences.

Community BIFF, BIFF Everywhere Expanding Participation and Cooperation

Community BIFF marks its 6th anniversary with continued focus on advocating for the importance of audience participation. The ‘Request Cinema’ program hit a record-breaking number of registrants from university film clubs to other members of the community. In an avid effort to expand the entire city of Busan into a venue to celebrate this year’s film festival, the ‘BIFF Everywhere’ program is also exploring new ways to strengthen its 3rd edition by creating an experimental space for domestic and foreign travelers at the duty-free area of Gimhae International Airport, along with co-organizing an event with the Ministry of Unification.

Introducing the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards

The Asia Contents Awards (ACA) will expand to include global OTT content, and be presented as the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards (ACA & G.OTT) this year. With the addition of 5 new award categories to the previous 12, a total of 17 categories will be presented at the awards ceremony held on Oct 8 (Sun), 18:00 KST at the BIFF Theater of the Busan Cinema Center.