Period: October 4th(Thursday) –13th(Saturday), 2018
■Screening Venues
30 screens at 5 theaters
Busan Cinema Center
LOTTE CINEMA Centum City
CGV Centum City
MEGABOX Haeundae(Jangsan)
Sohyang Theater Centum City
■Screenings
Total of 323 films from 79 countries
140World & International Premieres
-115 World Premieres (85 feature films, 30 short films)
-25 International Premieres (24 feature films, 1 short film)
-All New Currents screenings are World Premieres.
■ Main Events
-Hand Printing
-Master Class
-Platform Busan
-Open Talk
-Meet the Guest: Talk to Talk
-Outdoor Greeting
-VR Cinema in BIFF
-BIFF Forum
Retract the Boycott and Revival of the Film Festival
The Busan International Film Festival, which had struggled with political issues over the past few years, has been revived with the reinstatement of Lee Yong-kwan as the executive director and Jay Jeon as the festival director this year. After the reinstatement of the heads of the festival, organizations that boycotted the festival have been retracted. The mayor of Busan has been to Seoul to apologize for past problems and encourage cineasts to participate in the festival. Finally, the festival, which has had to deal with distractions for 4 years, will be fully reinstated as a place where cineasts and audiences get together.
Expansion of Audiences Participation Programs Connected with Local Communities
The Busan International Film Festival will launch its various events in Nampo-dong, connected with film communities in Busan, to promote audience participation. The events will be the first step of the Busan International Film Festival’s vision and expanded connection with the local communities. The festival is engaged through a co-agreement with 5 organizations such as the Busan Museum of Movies, The Corner Theater, Funnycon, Busan International Kids & Youth Film Festival, and Community Media Foundation. The organizations will consign programs, which will be on the process during the festival period. The Busan International Film Festival will promote BIFF Square in Nampo-dong and facilitate the accessibility to civic culture. The festival will introduce various programs that audiences can participate in.
Asian Independent Film Network – A Successful Launch of Platform Busan and New Challenges
Platform Busan, launched as an Asian independent filmmakers network last year, creates a platform for outstanding output by numerous participants and filmmakers, independent cineasts from different regions, and parties involved in prestigious international film festivals. Platform Busan has been created as a program to establish and foster the identity of the Busan International Film Festival as a hub of Asian cinema. Platform Busan will mainly focus on communicating and sharing experiences for Asian independent filmmakers. It will also provide a production field helpful for independent filmmakers and programs to prepare for volatility in the film industry as well as arrange meetings between filmmakers and producers from Europe.
Expansion of Asian Film Market Where Dealing With Korean and Asian Contents
Asian Film Market has expanded the range of the E-IP Market, selecting Korean content in a wide range and its extent to Asia. It reflects numerous parties involved in film industry that look for new content that is adaptable to visualization. The market promotes its business by introducing 30 original types of content, based on books in Japan and China as well as inviting more domestic and international parties involved in the broadcasting industry. The Korea Creative Content Agency will showcase and screen broadcast content. Korea Manhwa Contents Agency will also hold a new web-comic pitching and a seminar. Based on this year’s achievement, the Asian Film Market will be a competitive and leading marketplace where the Korea Creative Content Agency, Korean Film Council, and the Busan International Film Festival will cooperate together as of 2019.
Considering the Past, Present, and Future of the Festival – Launch of the Busan Classics Section
The Busan International Film Festival launches a new section called Busan Classics this year. Busan Classics introduces valuable films by masters who will remain eternal in film history, films required to be reviewed in another perspective, and the restoration of masterpieces in order to focus on artistic achievement and historical values in films. The Korean Cinema Retrospective – The Pioneer of 1980‟s Realism: LEE Jang-ho and Special Program in Focus, Centennial Anniversary of the Philippine Cinema – Cinema as a response to the nation will be opportunities for expecting the future of Asian films based on experiencing the past and present of Asian cinema.