The 24th edition of the Busan International Film Festival opened on Thursday. Featuring 303 films from 85 countries, it is one of Asia’s big film events, bringing in talent from Asia and around the world.
The ten-day event will run through Saturday, October 12.
The festival's programme includes a gala presentation of influential filmmakers and actors presenting their work, as well as premiers and screenings of films from around the world. Notable titles include Werner Herzog's Family Romance, LLC and Elia Suleiman's It Must Be Heaven.
In attendance at the opening was Filipino filmmaker Brilliante Mendoza with the cast from his latest film Mindanao, which had its world premiere at the festival. The film is set in a conflict zone in the Southern Philippines, where a combat medic and his wife care for their ailing child.
Also in attendance were South Korean Culture Minister Park Yang-woo, actors Jung Woo-sung, Im Yoon-ah, Kang Shin-il, Yoo Young, Kim Bo-sung, and producers Shwetaabh Singh and Namrata Singh.
The opening film of this year's festival is Yerlan Nurmukhambetov and Lisa Takeba's The Horse Thieves, which focuses on stories from everyday life in rural Kazakhstan. For the finale, the closing film Moonlit Winter by filmmaker Lim Daehyung will be presented. The film centres on a relationship between mother and child that is put to the test after the daughter finds out her parent's secret. Daehyung received BIFF's prestigious New Currents Award in the festival's 20th edition.
Oscar-nominated director Mike Figgis presides over the New Current section jury this year. For the 24th edition, 14 films have been included in the New Currents category, which showcases works by the promising talents in Asian cinema.
Titles include Hamed Tehrani's Diapason, Arden Rod Condez' John Denver Trending and Lim Sun-ae's An Old Lady.
Presented annually, the New Currents Award is given to emerging Asian filmmakers who are working on their first or second features. The winner, who will receive a cash prize of $30,000 (Dh110,189), will be announced on October 12.