Explainer | Busan International Film Festival: the history, the scandals and the winners at Korea’s ‘Cannes of Asia’
- As Korea’s major international film festival returns with a full programme, we look back at the highs and lows of the ‘Cannes of Asia’
- From the Sewol ferry disaster documentary that led to boycotts, funding cuts and a resignation, to hit films premiered at Busan, here’s all you need to know
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) will be back for its 27th edition on October 5, returning to full strength after a couple of hybrid events held during the earlier stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
With a broad programme featuring 243 films from 71 countries, the festival will once again put on a full roster of physical screenings and host a large complement of international guests. Also returning will be a variety of events and programmes which had been paused for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Often called the “Cannes of Asia”, BIFF has been a cultural landmark, known both for introducing and incubating new talents who have gone on to become leading voices in Asian cinema.
Established in 1996 in the lively southern port city of Busan, South Korea’s second largest metropolis, the festival’s history mirrors that of the modern Korean film industry, which emerged as an international powerhouse in the late 1990s.
Formerly split across the lively Nampo-dong neighbourhood, the former downtown of Busan, and the beachside tourist hub of Haeundae, BIFF now unspools in the shadows of sleek skyscrapers in the ultra-modern Centum City neighbourhood.