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South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin is to preside over the first ever Competition section of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which will host its 30th edition from September 17-26.
The director of The Wailing and The Yellow Sea will lead a seven-strong jury that comprises Hong Kong star Tony Leung Ka-fai, Indian actor-filmmaker Nandita Das, Iranian director Marziyeh Meshkiny, Seoul-born US filmmaker Kogonada, Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara and Korean actor Han Hyo-joo.
They will select the winners from 14 Competition titles and present the inaugural Busan Awards in five categories: best film, best director, special jury prize, best actor and artistic contribution. The awards include a total cash prize of nearly $80,000 (KRW110m) and the winners will also receive a trophy created by acclaimed Thai filmmaker and artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
BIFF festival director Jung Hanseok said: “Since this is a newly launched section, we sought to appoint jury members with discerning eyes, bold perspectives, and international influence. To broaden the scope of deliberation, [BIFF] has expanded the panel from five to seven members this year.”
Na is a writer, director and producer who made his feature debut with The Chaser in 2008, which proved a local box office hit and played at Cannes. He returned to the Croisette with The Yellow Sea in 2010 and The Wailing in 2016. He is in post-production on sci-fi thriller Hope, starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Hoyeon, and featuring Alicia Vikander with Michael Fassbender.
Acclaimed Hong Kong actor Leung has a screen career of more than 40 years and nearly 200 films ranging from Dragon Inn and Election to recent box office hit The Shadow’s Edge and Cannes selection Sons Of The Neon Night.
India’s Das has acted in more than 40 features including Bawandar and made her directorial debut in 2008 with Firaaq. She played at Cannes in 2018 with Manto and at Toronto in 2022 with Zwigato.
Meshkiny is considered a leading female director of the Iranian New Wave cinema, who debuted with The Day I Became a Woman, which won multiple awards at Venice in 2000 before scooping Busan’s New Currents Award. Her subsequent titles include Stray Dogs and The Man Who Came With The Snow.
Kogonada is the writer and director of Columbus, which premiered at the Sundance in 2017, and After Yang, which debuted at Cannes in 2022. He also directed Pachinko for Apple TV+. His upcoming feature A Big Bold Beautiful Journey stars Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell and is set for release in the US on September 19.
Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara is the founder of Jakarta-based KawanKawan Media and has credits including Makbul Mubarak’s Autobiography, Amanda Nell Eu’s Tiger Stripes, Duong Dieu Linh’s Don’t Cry, Butterfly and Chie Hayakawa’s Cannes 2025 Competition title Renoir. Her latest feature, Woo Ming Jin’s The Fox King, is set to premiere at Toronto.
Korean actor Han debuted in 2005 with Nonstop 5 before her breakout role in historical drama Dong Yi. More recently, she has starred in Disney+ series Moving and Japanese Netflix original Romantic Anonymous.
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