Celebrated director Park Chan-wook’s star-studded homicide comedy will open Asia’s greatest movie pageant Wednesday, which launches its first absolutely fledged competitors lineup as South Korea initiatives its smooth energy worldwide.
The thirtieth version of Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) arrives after the worldwide success of crucial works exploring Korean tradition and experiences, akin to “Squid Game”, “Parasite” and this yr’s megahit “KPop Demon Hunters”.
The pageant, which has lengthy centered on rising abilities within the area, is present process a revamp this yr, launching its first main competitors part that includes 14 titles — together with 4 South Korean photos.
The part consists of seasoned Chinese director Zhang Lu’s “Gloaming In Luomu” and Taiwan’s megastar Shu Qi’s directorial debut “Girl”, and might be judged by juries headed by South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin.
The newest version “sought not only to further expand its long-standing role as a platform for discovering emerging Asian talent, but also to effectively showcase the works of acclaimed Asian masters”, pageant director Jung Han-seok informed AFP.
Karen Park, the pageant’s program director, mentioned the lineup was designed to honor Asian cinema in the way in which it needs to be understood.
“I believe it is meaningful that an Asian film festival, which understands Asian culture and its linguistic and historical contexts, evaluates Asian films and offers its own perspectives on them,” she mentioned.
Auteur Park Chan-wook — greatest recognized for “Old Boy” — which thrust him into the worldwide highlight in 2004 — returns to Busan along with his newest characteristic, “No Other Choice”, after it featured on the Venice Film Festival which ended earlier this month.
Based on American author Donald E. Westlake’s 1997 novel “The Ax”, the movie, this yr’s BIFF opener, follows a determined laid-off employee who decides to kill off potential rivals for a brand new job.
It stars South Korea’s high actors — “Squid Game” star Lee Byung-hun and “Crash Landing on You” actress Son Ye-jin — within the lead.
The movie was warmly acquired at Venice in August, with specialist outlet Variety calling it a “dazzling murder comedy” and a “masterclass in controlled chaos”.
The opening movie marks a shift from final yr’s selection of Netflix’s interval battle drama “Uprising”, which drew criticism in South Korea’s cinema neighborhood given BIFF’s custom of championing theatrical movies.
This yr’s version options 241 official entries from 64 nations, together with 90 world premieres.
Among them is “Hana Korea”, a North Korean refugee drama with “Pachinko” star Kim Min-ha, and “The People Upstairs”, from South Korean actor-director Ha Jung-woo, which facilities on the difficulty of inter-floor noise.
BIFF will even host a singalong screening of Netflix’s Okay-pop fantasy hit “KPop Demon Hunters”.
As for rising abilities, there was a “wave of exciting new voices emerging” in Asia, “especially in short films where sensitive themes are tackled with remarkable freedom”, mentioned Park Sung-ho, one in all BIFF’s programmers.
“In much of Asia, freedom of expression is still not widely guaranteed, yet within shorts young directors have revealed their individuality in striking ways, offering reasons to feel optimistic about the future of Asian cinema,” he informed AFP.
Among the star-studded company are Asia’s celebrated auteurs Bong Joon-ho and Jia Zhangke, French actress Juliette Binoche, American star Milla Jovovich, “KPop Demon Hunters” director Maggie Kang, and Hollywood auteur Michael Mann.
© 2025 AFP