29th Busan International Film Festival Kicks Off with Netflix Film 'Uprising'

The 29th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) opens today (2nd).

The 29th Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 2 to 11, centered around the Busan Cinema Center, the birthplace of the festival in Nampo-dong, Jung-gu, and eight other locations in Busan. This year's opening film is the Netflix movie 'Uprising,' directed by Kim Sang-man and starring Kang Dong-won, Park Jung-min, Cha Seung-won, Kim Shin-rok, and Jin Seon-kyu. This marks the first time in the history of the Busan Film Festival that an OTT film has been selected as the opening film.

In addition to the opening film, this year's festival will screen 224 films from 63 countries across 28 screens in seven theaters, including the Busan Cinema Center, CGV Centum City, and Lotte Cinema Centum City. The number of official invitations has increased by 15 compared to last year's 209 films.

A special program titled 'A Good Person, Lee Sun-kyun' will screen the representative works of the late Lee Sun-kyun, who passed away last year. Films such as 'A Hard Day,' 'Parasite,' 'The Land of Happiness,' and the drama 'My Mister' will be shown, along with guest visits (GV). Lee Sun-kyun has also been selected as the recipient of the Korean Cinema Award, which is given to individuals who have contributed to introducing Korean films to the international film industry.

This year's Asian Filmmaker of the Year award goes to director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Known as a master of Japanese cinema with works like 'Pulse' and 'Cure,' Kurosawa will present two films this year: 'The Path of the Snake' and 'Clouds.'

Director Yeon Sang-ho's Netflix series 'Hellbound 2' will also have its world premiere in the 'On Screen' section, which showcases the most anticipated drama series. Other series to be featured include TVING's 'One Week Before My Death,' the spin-off of 'Stranger' titled 'Good or Bad Dong-jae,' and Disney Plus series 'Gangnam B-Side.'

In the Open Cinema section, BTS leader RM's documentary will make its world premiere. 'RM: Light People, Long Place,' filmed before RM's military enlistment, is the first K-pop documentary film to be invited to the Open Cinema section, and tickets have already sold out.

The opening ceremony of the film festival will take place at 7 PM on the 2nd at the outdoor theater of the Busan Cinema Center, hosted by Park Bo-young and Ahn Jae-hong. The closing ceremony, to be held at the same location on the 11th, will be hosted by Choi Soo-young and Gong Myung.

Reporter Kim Ji-won, TenAsia bella@tenasia.co.kr