The Busan International Film Festival marked its 31st edition Tuesday with one of its most star-laden opening ceremonies in recent memory, drawing Fan Bingbing, Michelle Yeoh, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alfonso Cuarón, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Lee Chang-dong, Na Hong-jin, and a roll call of Asian cinema’s finest to the port city for a night that mixed Hollywood glamour with homegrown pride. Busan Mayor Park Chun Jae-soo declared the festival open, delivering his first opening-night address as mayor. Festival director Jung Hanseok, in his second year leading the event, framed the edition around a single question the programming team kept returning to during selection: “What does Busan call a good film?” The answer, he said, was 13 competition titles chosen from thousands of submissions as the most honest portraits of contemporary Asian life.
The stakes are considerable: BIFF is the only Asia-based festival among the six worldwide whose competition Grand Prize winner qualifies for Academy Award consideration in the International Feature Film category, joining Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, and Toronto in that designation. Jung also took time to thank the festival’s staff, Busan’s citizens, and filmmakers worldwide for their support through what he described as a period of difficult challenges. Zhang Yimou – who once spent seven years as a factory worker before submitting a self-made photo album to win a place at film school despite being over the age limit – is serving as jury president of the competition.
Jung welcomed him to the stage to address the audience. Zhang said: “As you can see, four of our seven jurors are outstanding women working in film. That represents a step forward.
I’m sure working together will spark many exciting exchanges.” Ann Hui received the Camellia Award, an honor established in 2024 by BIFF in partnership with Chanel that recognizes film professionals who push boundaries and advance the status of women in cinema. Michelle Yeoh received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award, presented with an introduction by Choi Min-sik that recalled her history-making 2023 Academy Award win for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – the first Asian performer to claim the best actress prize. In her acceptance speech, Yeoh said: “It is a tremendous honor to receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award here at the Busan International Film Festival.” She addressed Hui in her remarks: “You have spent nearly five decades capturing the quiet dignity of ordinary lives, while forging a path for generations of women behind the camera.
Congratulations on the Camellia Award. It is so deeply deserved.” “A story can travel across the world, and I especially want to thank the films that have changed me,” Yeoh said. Kim, who co-founded the festival in 1996 and raised nearly the entire budget for its inaugural edition single-handedly, also secured the abolition of censorship for films screened at that first edition.
On the red carpet, Fan Bingbing’s arrival generated some of the night’s loudest buzz, while Gainsbourg represented European art-house credibility alongside Cuarón and Jonas Cuaron. Lee Chang-dong walked the carpet alongside the four lead cast members of his new film “Possible Love.” Other talent present included “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, director Fukada Koji presenting “Nagi Notes,” Dileesh Pothen for “Soul Whisperers,” and Anjali Patil for “Selvi.” “Pachinko” star Kim Minha, who is also in the festival opening film “The Table: Day and Night,” hosted the evening’s proceedings. The 31st Busan International Film Festival runs through Oct. 15.
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