Acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou is to preside over Competition jury at the 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which includes seven feted filmmakers from across Asia.
Judging the 13 titles alongside Zhang will be Chinese director Bi Gan, South Korean actor Moon Choi, Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa, Korean director July Jung, Vietnamese producer Tran Thi Bich Ngoc and Kazak actor Samal Yeslyamova.
It marks the second year BIFF will feature a Competition strand and the winner of the Busan Award for best film will qualify for submission to the Academy Awards in the best international feature film category for the first time. This follows BIFF being officially recognised by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) as an “A-list festival,” joining Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance and Toronto.
Further Busan awards will be presented for best director, special jury prize, best actor, and artistic contribution, with total cash prize money of $80,000 (KRW110m).
Zhang is a prize-winner himself, having been awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlinale with Red Sorghum, the Golden Lion at Venice twice with The Story Of Qiu Ju and Not One Less and the grand prix at Cannes for To Live. More recent features include One Second, Full River Red and an upcoming sci-fi epic based on The Three-Body Problem. His ties to Busan date back to 2010, when Under The Hawthorn Tree opened the 15th edition.
Bi Gan, known for Kaili Blues and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, was selected for BIFF’s inaugural Competition last year with Resurrection and won the artistic contribution award, having previously won the jury special prize at Cannes where the film premiered in Competition.
Japanese filmmaker Kei was at Cannes last year with A Pale View Of Hills and was previously selected for Venice with Gukoroku – Traces of Sin and A Man, of which the latter won eight Japan Academy Film Prizes, including best picture.
Korean actress Moon has expanded into directing with short film Bandi in 2021 omnibus project Unframed and is both lead performer and producer of Bedford Park, which is selected for this year’s BIFF.
Jung is the first Korean female director to have all three of her feature films – A Girl at My Door, Next Sohee, and Dora – invited to Cannes; while Vietnamese producer Tran also oversees the project market at Da Nang Asian Film Festival. Kazakhstani actor Yeslyamova is another Cannes winner who was named best actress at the festival for her performance in 2018’s Ayka.
The 31st BIFF will take place over 10 days from October 6-15.
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