Busan International Film Festival

Busan International Film Festival
The Opening Ceremony, 2010
Location	Busan (Pusan), South Korea
Language	International
Official website

Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival , PIFF Korean: 부산국제영화제, Hanja: 釜山國際映畵祭), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (also Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia.^[1] The first festival, held from September 13 to September 21, 1996, was also the first international film festival in Korea. The focus of the BIFF is introducing new films and first-time directors, especially those from Asian countries. Another notable feature is the appeal of the festival to young people, both in terms of the large youthful audience it attracts and through its efforts to develop and promote young talent. In 1999, the Pusan Promotion Plan (renamed Asian Project Market in 2011) was established to connect new directors to funding sources. The 16th BIFF in 2011 saw the festival move to a new permanent home, the Busan Cinema Center. The Busan Cinema Center is a USD140 million structure designed by Austria-based architecture collective Coop Himmelblau. The about 30,000 m² Cinema Center includes a 4,000-seat outdoor theatre; four indoor screens under an LED-covered roof; media centre; archive space; and conference rooms; allowing the festival to include industry forums and educational activities.^[2]

1 History
2 Programmes
3 Events
4 Awards
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

History

1st BIFF, September 13–21, 1996

Films screened: 173 films from 31 countries

Opening Film: Secrets and Lies, Mike Leigh, UK/France

Closing Film: In Expectation, Ming Zhang, China

Participating guests: 224 guests from 27 countries

Total audience: 184,071

2nd BIFF, October 10–18, 1997

Films screened: 163 films from 33 countries

Opening Film: Chinese Box, Wayne Wang, UK/France/USA/Japan

Closing Film: Eighteen Springs, Ann Hui, Hong Kong-China

Participating guests: 450 guests from 30 countries

Total audience: 170,206

3rd BIFF, September 24 - October 1, 1998

Films screened: 211 films from 41 countries

Opening Film: The Silence, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran/France

Closing Film: Kanzo sensei, Imamura Shohei, Japan

Participating guests: 659 guests from 25 countries

Total audience: 192,547 (paid audiences: 174,870)

4th PIFF, October 14–23, 1999

Films screened: 207 films from 53 countries

Opening Film: Peppermint Candy, Lee Chang-Dong, Korea

Closing Film: Not One Less, Zhang Yimou, China

Participating guests: 555 guests from 36 countries

Total audience: 180,914

5th BIFF, October 6–14, 2000

Films screened: 207 films from 55 countries

Opening Film: The Wrestlers, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, India

Closing Film: In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar Wei, Hong Kong-China

Participating guests: 3017 guests from 39 countries

Total audience: 181,708 people

6th BIFF, November 9–17, 2001

Films screened: 201 films from 60 countries

Opening Film: The Last Witness, Bae Chang-Ho, Korea

Closing Film: Suriyothai, Chatrichalerm Yukol, Thailand

Participating guests: 3,761 guests from 30 countries

Total audience: 143,103 people

7th BIFF, November 11–23, 2002

Films screened: 226 films from 55 countries

Opening Film: The Coast Guard, Kim Ki-Duk, Korea

Closing Film: Dolls, Kitano Takeshi, Japan

Participating guests: 2,002 guests from 35 countries

Total audience: 167,349 people

8th BIFF, October 2–10, 2003

Films screened: 243 works from 61 countries

Opening Film: Doppelganger, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Japan

Closing Film: Acacia, Park Ki Hyung, Korea

Participating guests: 2,523 people from 44 countries

Total audience: 165,102

9th BIFF, October 7–15, 2004

Films screened: Total 262 films from 63 countries

Opening Film: 2046, Wong Kar Wei, Hong Kong-China

Closing Film: The Scarlet Letter, Daniel H. Byun, Korea

Participating guests: Total 5,638 guests from 50 countries

Total audience: 166,164

10th BIFF, October 6–14, 2005

Films screened: 307 films from 73 countries

Opening Film: Three Times, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan

Closing Film: Wedding Campaign, Hwang Byeng Gug, Korea

Participating guests: 6,088 from 55 countries

Total audience: 192,970

11th BIFF, October 12–20, 2006

Films screened: 245 films from 63 countries

Opening Film: Traces of Love, Daeseung Kim, Korea

Closing Film: Crazy Stone, Ning Hao, China/Hong Kong-China

Participating guests: 8,321 from 51 countries

Total audience: 162,835

12th BIFF, October 4–12, 2007

Films Screened: 271 films from 64 countries in 770 screenings

Opening Film: Assembly, Feng Xiaogang, China

Closing Film: Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, Kazuya Tsurumaki, Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, Japan

Participating guests: 7,361

Total audience: 198,603

13th BIFF, October 2–10, 2008

Films screened: 315 films from 60 countries

Opening Film: The Gift to Stalin, Rustem Abdrashev, Russia/Kazakhstan/Israel/Poland

Closing Film: I Am Happy, Yoon Jong-Chan, Korea

Participating guests: 9,516

Total audience: 198,818

14th BIFF, October 8–16, 2009

Films Screened: 355 films from 70 countries. 803 screenings.

Opening Film: Good Morning President, Jang Jin, Korea

Closing Film: The Message, Gao Qunshu, Chen Kuo-fu, China

Participating guests: 6,400

Total audience: 173,516

15th BIFF, October 7–15, 2010

Films Screened: 306 films from 67 countries

Opening Film: Under the Hawthorn Tree, ZHANG Yimou, China

Closing Film: Camellia, Wisit Sasanatieng, Isao Yukisada, Jang Joonhwan, Thailand/Japan/Korea

Participating guests: 9,367

Total audience: 182,046

16th BIFF, October 6–14, 2011

Films Screened: 307 films from 70 countries^[3]

Opening Film: Always, Song Il-gon, South Korea

Closing Film: Chronicle of My Mother, Masato Harada, Japan

Participating guests: 11,268, including the press 2,440^[3]

Total audience: 196,177^[3]

Programmes

The Busan International Film Festival is organised in various sections:

Gala Presentation: Gala Presentation screens new master cineastes, the year's most-talked-about films, and world/international premieres.
A Window on Asian Cinema: A showcase of brand new and/or representative films by the talented Asian filmmakers with their diverse points of view and style.
New Currents: The only international competition section featuring the first or the second feature films by the future leading directors of Asian cinema.
Korean Cinema Today: Selected Korean feature films are shown in two sub-sections, Panorama and Vision. These two sub-sections recognize the current production trend of Korean cinema and anticipate its future.
Korean Cinema Retrospective: Revisiting the history of Korean cinema by spotlighting films of a certain notable director or films with a significant theme.
World Cinema: Presentation of new works by world-renowned filmmakers along with the year's best films that help understanding the recent trends in world cinema.
Wide Angle: A section dedicated to showing outstanding short films, animation, documentaries, and experimental films presenting different and distinct vision via broader cinematic viewpoints.
Open Cinema: A unique outdoor screening venue where a collection of new films, combining both art and mass popularity, are shown along with internationally acclaimed works.
Flash Forward: Flash Forward is set to discover yet-surfaced cineastes and create buzz among the young film generation. This section is an eclectic collection of first or second films of up-and-coming filmmakers from non-Asian countries.
Midnight Passion: Midnight Passion presents films of diverse genres selected for entertainment value from all over the world to meet the audience at night.
Special Programs in Focus: A retrospective and special showcase of films of a certain notable director or genre.

Events

Asian Film Market: Launched in 2006 as a comprehensive marketplace for the array of industry events at the Busan International Film Festival, the Asian Film Market laid down its cornerstone as the new hub of the Asian film industry, organizations and institutes participating from around the world.
- Asian Project Market (former PPP: Pusan Promotion Plan) is a pre-market where promising filmmakers and producers can meet with potential co-producers and financiers and, in turn, investors and co-producers can find a diverse selection of the latest (Asian) projects of top quality. As a dynamic project market focused in Asian cinema, APM has brought together viable programmes and projects to entice and meet participating film professionals from all over the world for last 11 years.

Asian Cinema Fund: The Asian Cinema Fund is a funding program to help activate more independent film productions and to set up a stable production environment. It supports projects in various stages and categories, from script development and post-production to documentary films to discover hidden jewels from future talents. ACF also aims to be a cornerstone in the foundation of a pan-Asian network by providing a meeting place for Asian filmmakers. The 900 million won (approximately 900,000USD) Asian Cinema Fund will be used to provide support to seven projects in script development, five post-productions, and thirteen documentary films.
- The Script Development Fund is aimed at helping screenwriters complete their scripts. It will offer an opportunity to make for a more creative and fine-tuned project.
- The Post-Production Fund is made possible through the enthusiastic support of Korean post-production companies and the Korean Film Council. With this fund, the director is invited to Korea to work on sound and DI with Korean post-production houses. It will help the director complete his or her film in 35mm. With the Post-Production Fund, top-notch technicians from Korean companies will help the project along to a higher level of quality. Furthermore, this fund is expected to be the basis for an Asian network of filmmaking technology.
- The Asian Network of Documentary Fund was initiated in 2002 and sponsored by six universities and corporations in the Busan region. As a part of the Busan International Film Festival, and holds master classes and clinics to stabilize the environment for documentary productions. It is becoming an important ground for establishing a network for Asian documentaries by helping selected documentaries to be presented at many different showcases from various regions around the world. The Asian Cinema Fund helps Asian filmmakers realize their visions. It is designed to offer essential and tangible contributions in taking Asian cinema to the next level.

Asian Film Academy (AFA) is an educational program where prospective filmmakers and established directors from Asia gather to deliberate and prepare for the future of Asian cinema. Fellows of AFA will share the vision of Asian cinema with prominent filmmakers through its 17 days of program.

Busan Cinema Forum (BCF) is an academic event for filmmakers and scholars, launched in October 10, 2011.^[4] It aims to enhance the knowledge and support of the film industry and film aesthetics.

Awards

A number of awards are handed out each year, including:

New Currents Award

The New Currents Award is given to best feature films selected from works of new Asian Directors in the New Currents section.

Year	Film	Director	Country
1996	In Expectation	Zhang Ming	China
1997	Motel Cactus	Park Ki-Yong	Korea
1998	Xiao Wu	Jia Zhangke	China
1999	Timeless Melody	Okuhara Hiroshi	Japan
2000	The Day I Become a Woman	Marziyeh Meshkini	Iran
2001	Flower Island	Song Il-gon	Korea
2002	Jealousy Is My Middle Name The Rite... A Passion	Park Chan-ok K.N.T. Sastry	Korea India
2003	The Missing Tiny Snowflakes	Lee Kang-sheng Alireza Amini	Taiwan Iran
2004	This Charming Girl	Lee Yun-ki	Korea
2005	Grain in Ear	Zhang Lü	China
2006	Betelut Love Conquers All	Heng Yang Tan Chui Mui	China Malaysia
2007	Wonderful Town Life Track Flower in the Pocket	Aditya Assarat Guang Hao Jin Liew Seng Tat	Thailand China/Korea Malaysia
2008	Land of Scarecrows Naked of Defenses	Roh Gyeong-tae Masahide Ichii	Korea Japan
2009	Kick Off I'm in Trouble	Shawkat Amin Korki So Sang-Min	Iraq/Japan Korea
2010	The Journals of Musan Bleak Night	Park Jeong-beom Yoon Seong-hyeon	Korea Korea
2011	Mourning Nino	Morteza FARSHBAF Loy ARCENAS	Iran Philippines

Flash Forward Award

Newly created in 2009, the USD 30,000 award is given to the best film among those screened in the competing section, Flash Forward.

Year	Film	Director	Country
2009	Last Cowboy Standing	Zaida Bergroth	Finland/Germany
2010	Pure	Lisa Langseth	Sweden
2011	LA-BAS - A Criminal Education	Guido Lombardi	Italy

Sonje Award

A KRW 20,000,000 (US $21,000) award given to the Korean and Asian director of the best short film (1996, 1997, 2008–present).

Year	Film	Director	Country
1996	Arrival of the Train	Andrej Sheleznjakov	Russia
1997	The Saltman of Tibet	Ulrike Koch	Switzerland
1998	Lachrymal Heavy	Lim Chang-jae Park Chan-ok	Korea Korea
1999	28th October 1979, A Sunny Sunday	Kwon Jong- kwan	Korea
2000	Bardo	Yoon Young-ho	Korea
2001	Siam Hard Romance	KIM Jeong-gu	Korea
2002	Chapter Two: How to Breathe	Lee Hyung-suk	Korea
2003	The Spring and the Delight The Third Tongue	Park Jung-seon Son Kwang-ju	Korea Korea
2004	Punk Eek Gold Fish	Son Kwang Ju Park Shin-woo	Korea Korea
2005	Tea & Poison A Bowl of Tea	Joung Yong-ju KIM Young-nam	Korea Korea
2006	Portfolio The Wind Stirs	Yoon Seongho Lee Jin-Woo	Korea Korea
2007	Woong's Story A Man under the Influenza	Lee Ha Song Jung July	Korea Korea
2008	Andong Girl	Rommel Tolentini Milo Hong Sunghoon	Philippines Korea
2009	Somewhere Unreached Rare Fish	Kim Jae-won Basil Vassili Mironer	Korea Singapore/Indonesia
2010	Broken Night Inhalation	Yang Hyo-Joo Edmund Yeo	Korea Malaysia/Japan

Woonpa Award/PIFF Mecenat Award

A KRW 10,000,000 (US $11,000) award given to the best Korean and Asian (from 2008) documentary film directors.

Year	Film	Director	Country
1996	Echoing In My Being	Jeon soo-il	Korea
1997	The Six Day Fight in Myong Dong Cathedral	Kim Dong-Won	Korea
1998	Reclaiming Our Names	Hong Hyung-sook	Korea
1999	My Own Breathing Mindullae	Byun Young-Joo CHOIHA Dong-ha, Lee Jeong-soon	Korea Korea
2000	Sky-Blue Hometown	Kim So-young	Korea
2001	Farewell	Hwang Yun	Korea
2002	On the Right Track Mudang-Reconciliation between the Living and the Dead	Lee Ji-young Park Ki-bok	Korea Korea
2003	And Thereafter	Lee Ho-sup	Korea
2004	What Do People Live For?	Lee Jeong-soon	Korea
2005	Coreen 2495 Annyoung Sayonara	Ha Joon-so Kim Tae-il, Kato Kumiko	Korea Korea
2006	Our School People Crossing the River	Kim Myungjun Kim Duk-Chul	Korea Korea
2007	Grandmother's flower	Moon Jung-Hyun	Korea
2008	Mental Old Partner	Kazuhiro Soda Lee Chung Ryoul	Japan Korea
2009	Earth's Woman The Other Song	Kwon Woo-Jung Saba Dewan	Korea India
2010	Miracle on Jongno Street New Castle	Lee Hyuk-sang Guo Hengqi	Korea China

Fipresci Award

Given by the Association of Internal Film Press from the entries in the New Currents section.

Year	Film	Director	Country
1997	Made in Hong Kong	Fruit Chan	Hong Kong-China
1998	Ikinai	Hiroshi Shimizu	Japan
1999	The Cup	Khyentse Norbu	Bhutan
2000	Sunflower	Yukisada Isao	Japan
2001	Flower Island One Fine Spring Day	Song Il-gon Hur Jin-ho	Korea Korea
2002	Too Young to Die	Park Jin-pyo	Korea
2003	Deep Breath	Parviz Shahbazi	Iran
2004	Soap Opera	Wu Er-shan	China
2005	The Unforgiven	Yoon Jong-bin	Korea
2006	Love Conquers All	Tan Chui Mui	Malaysia
2007	The Red Awn	Shangjun Cai	China
2008	Jalainur	Ye Zhao	China
2009	Kick Off	Shawkat Amin Korki	Iraq/Japan
2010	The Journals of Musan	Park Jeong-beom	Korea

NETPAC Award

Awarded to the best Korean film from either New Currents and Korean Cinema Today sections

Year	Film	Director	Country
1996	Three Friends	Yim Soon-rye	Korea
1997	Timeless, Bottomless Bad Movie	Jang Sun-woo	Korea
1998	The Power of Kangwon Province	Hong Sang-soo	Korea
1999	The Bird Who Stops in the Air	Jeon Soo-il	Korea
2000	Chunhyang	Im Kwon-taek	Korea
2001	Take Care of My Cat	Jeong Jae-eun	Korea
2002	Road Movie	Kim In-sik	Korea
2003	Untold Scandal	E J-yong	Korea
2004	3-Iron	Kim Ki-duk	Korea
2005	The Unforgiven	Yoon Jong-bin	Korea
2006	The Last Dining Table	Roh Gyeong Tae	Korea
2007	Hello Stranger With a Girl of Black Soil	Kim Dong-Hyun Jeon Soo-il	Korea Korea
2008	Members of the Funeral Treeless Mountain	Baek Seung-bin Kim So Yong	Korea Korea
2009	Paju	Park Chan Ok	Korea
2010	Dooman River	Zhang Lu	Korea

KNN Award (Audience Award)

Awarded by the KNN Foundation to a film from the New Currents section selected by audiences with a $20,000 award for the director.

Year	Film	Director	Country
1998	April Story	Iwai Shunji	Japan
1999	Gemini	Shinya Tsukamoto	Japan
2000	Die Bad	Ryoo Seung-wan	Korea
2001	Flower Island	Song Il-gon	Korea
2002	Too Young to Die	Park Jin-pyo	Korea
2003	The Road Taken Osama	Hong Ki-sun Sedigh Barmak	Korea Afghanistan/Iran
2004	Survive Style 5+	Sekiguchi Gen	Japan
2005	The Unforgiven	Yoon Jong-bin	Korea
2006	The White Silk Dress	Huynh Luu	Vietnam
2007	Flower in the Pocket	Liew Seng Tat	Malaysia
2008	100	Chris Martinez	Philippines
2009	Lan	Jiang Wenli	China
2010	My Spectacular Theatre	LU Yang	China
2011	Dekh Indian Circus	Mangesh Hadawale	India

Korean Cinema Award

Given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in promoting Korean Cinema to the World Film Community.

Year	Name	Country
1996	Adriano Apra Tony Rayns Alain Jalladeau Ulrich Gregor Larry Kadish Ancha Flubacher-Rhim Simon Field	Italy UK France Germany USA Switzerland UK
1997	Aruna Vasudev Sato Tadao	India Japan
1998	Gilles Jacob Moritz de Hadeln	France Germany
1999	Serge Losique Lee Young-il	Canada Korea
2000	Martin & Anna Louisa Girod	Switzerland
2001	Eva Zaoralova	Czech Republic
2002	Alain Patel	France
2003	Park Byoung-yang Lee Bong-ou	Japan Japan
2004	YANO Kazuyki Phillip Cheah	Japan Singapore
2005	Dieter Kosslick Thierry Fremaux	Germany France
2006	Martial Knaebell Terawaki Ken	Switzerland Japan
2007	Sabrina Baracetti Jean-Francois Rauger	Italy France
2008	Richard Pena	USA
2009	Riccardo GELLI Jeannette Paulson HERENIKO	Italy USA
2010	Bruno Barde	France

Asian Filmmaker of the Year

Given to an Asian filmmaker with the most outstanding activity in improving and developing Asian Film Industry and Culture.

Year	Name	Country
2003	Mohsen Makhmalbaf	Iran
2004	Hou Hsiao-Hsien	Taiwan
2005	NHK	Japan
2006	Andy Lau	Hong Kong-China
2007	Edward Yang (1947–2007)	Taiwan
2008	Gulnara Sarsenova	Kazakhstan
2009	Yash Chopra	India ^[5]
2010	Tsai Ming-liang	Taiwan
2011	Tsui Hark	Hong Kong-China

References

^ IMDb
^ Junotane
^ ^a ^b ^c The 16th BIFF Final Statistic Data
^ "The 1st Busan Cinema Forum". BIFF. http://forum.biff.kr/structure/eng/default.asp. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
^ Yash Chopra honored at Busan International Film Festival

External links

FIAPF-accredited film festivals

Competitive feature	Berlin Cannes Cairo Goa Karlovy Vary Locarno Mar del Plata Moscow Montreal San Sebastian Shanghai Tokyo Warsaw Venice

Competitive specialized	Antalya Bogota Brussels Cartagena Cluj Napoca (TIFF) Courmayeur Frankfurt Ghent Gijon Istanbul Jeonju Kerala (Trivandrum) Kiev Los Angeles (AFI FEST) Namur Pusan (Busan) Sarajevo Setúbal Sitges Stockholm Sydney Tallinn Thessaloniki Turin Valencia Jove Valencia Mediterranean Wiesbaden (goEast) Wrocław

Non-competitive	Haugesund Kolkata London Toronto Vienna

Documentary and shorts	Bilbao Krakow Oberhausen St. Petersburg Tampere