Busan International Film Festival Opens...Park Bo-young and Ahn Jae-hong Selected as Hosts

The 29th BUSAN International Film Festival (BIFF) will be held at the Haeundae Cinema Center in Haeundae-gu, Busan at 6 p.m. on February 2.

The opening day will be hosted by actors Park Bo-young and Ahn Jae-hong. The opening ceremony will also present the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award, which recognizes a person or organization that has made the most significant contribution to the development of the Asian film industry and culture, and the Korean Film Achievement Award, which recognizes a person or organization that has contributed to the widespread introduction of Korean films.

The Camellia Award, which will be presented at the opening ceremony of this year's Busan International Film Festival and Chanel, is expected to recognize the cultural and artistic contributions of women.

The Busan International Film Festival will feature a variety of new films by masters and emerging directors from around the world, as well as special programs.

Master classes will be held to hear from masters such as this year's Asian Film Award winner Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who will be visiting Busan with two films, 'Snake Road (2024)' and 'Cloud'; director Miguel Gomes, who will be featured in the special program 'Cineast of the Melancholy'; and Hong Kong New Wave icon Heo An-hwa, who will be featured in the special program 'The Cineast of the Melancholy'. The festival also announced a schedule of various events such as open talks, outdoor stage greetings, and the Actors' House.

Asia Contents & Film Market will present the future of the Korean and Asian content industry with a new Producer Hub to strengthen networking among producers, and an unprecedented lineup of conferences, including the AI Conference, which has been enhanced in both quantity and quality.

The CHANEL X BIFF Asian Film Academy, which has revamped its operations to allow for the full expression of individual creativity and personality, Community Beef and Neighborhood Beef, which are being created with audiences across Busan, and the Asian Content Awards & Global OTT Awards, which are being transformed into a differentiated content award ceremony by expanding the scope of content, are all gearing up to meet audiences a week ahead of the opening of the festival.

In the meantime, this year's Busan International Film Festival will feature 278 films from 63 countries, including 54 CommunityBEEF films, in 26 theaters, including five cinemas, CGV Centum City, Lotte Cinema Centum City, Korean Film Council Gwangsan Cinema, and Megabox Busan Theater.