Busan [South Korea], August 24 (ANI): The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has unveiled 23 films for its Vision Korea and Vision Asia sections for its 2026 edition, spotlighting independent cinema from South Korea and across Asia, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The festival selected 12 Korean films for Vision Korea and 11 titles from emerging filmmakers across Asia for Vision Asia. The two sections were introduced last year as part of a broader overhaul of the festival, which also saw Busan launch its first formal main competition.
BIFF describes the Vision programme as a showcase for new Korean and Asian independent cinema. The section evolved from Korean Cinema Today – Vision, which traditionally focused on emerging Korean filmmakers. Following its expansion to include films from across Asia, the programme also began featuring mid-career directors alongside newcomers.
Among the Korean selections is Park Kun-young’s ‘Things I Left at the Theater’, a drama about a film journalist searching for an old friend’s short film. Jang Woojin’s ‘Cosmic Trace’ explores love, loss, chance and fate through two people reflecting on their lives at the boundary between life and death.
Kim Miyoung, whose ‘A Lonely Island in the Distant Sea’ won Busan’s DGK Megabox Award in 2023, returns with ‘Some Detective’, which follows a writer confronted by figures from her past. Both ‘Some Detective’ and Shin Dongmin’s ‘Not For You’ received post-production support from BIFF’s Asian Cinema Fund this year, according to The Hollywood Reporter
The Vision Asia lineup includes Vietnamese filmmaker Nguyen Hoang Diep’s ‘1982’, about a bankrupt filmmaker searching for her missing mother and uncovering family secrets. Filipino filmmaker Arvin Belarmino presents ‘Ria’, a folk-punk drama about a musician fighting to preserve her home and music.
Mongolian filmmaker Sakhya Byamba, who won Busan’s New Currents Award in 2013 for ‘Remote Control’, returns with ‘Zogsool’, a satire set around an isolated gas station during the early days of COVID-19.
Thai actor Inthira Charoenpura makes her directorial debut with ‘Bua’, co-directed by feature newcomer Phensiri Klangsurin.
BIFF had earlier announced Kim Jong-kwan’s ‘The Table: Day and Night’ as its 2026 opening film. The Seoul cafe-set romance, a loose follow-up to his 2016 film ‘The Table’, will have its world premiere at the Busan Cinema Centre on October 6, with actor Kim Minha hosting the opening ceremony.
Michelle Yeoh will receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year honour, while Hong Kong auteur Ann Hui will receive the Chanel-backed Camellia Award. Festival founder Kim Dong-ho will be presented with the Korean Cinema Award.
The festival’s main competition lineup is yet to be announced. BIFF will unveil its complete official selection in Seoul on September 1 at its official opening press conference.
The 31st Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 6 to 15, while the Asian Contents & Film Market will take place from October 10 to 13, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI)
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