The 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has unveiled a guest lineup headlined by Isabelle Huppert, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Fan Bingbing and Michelle Yeoh. Huppert brings her latest film, “All About Corinne,” to Busan audiences. Gyllenhaal makes her first visit to Korea with “Flesh Impact,” a project created to mark the centenary of Marilyn Monroe’s birth.
Fan Bingbing joins fellow Chinese stars Shu Qi and Zhou Xun in Busan, while also curating a Carte Blanche selection of Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden.” Yeoh, the first Asian performer to win the Academy Award for best actress, returns to the festival after 15 years to receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award and appears in the gala presentation title “It’s My Time.” The broader guest roster runs deep. Hong Kong’s Ann Hui will accept the Camellia Award, and Indonesian icon Christine Hakim will also attend. Iranian director Majid Majidi, known for “Children of Heaven,” makes his first trip to Korea with competition entry “Midday Meal.” Animator Rintaro returns to discuss his work on “Metropolis,” and Filipino director Lav Diaz comes back to Korea after a decade away.
Japan’s Kore-eda Hirokazu arrives with “Look Back,” Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang returns for a second straight year with a new entry in his “Walker” series, and French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico brings “Roma Elastica,” starring Marion Cotillard. Korean auteurs Lee Chang-dong, Na Hong-Jin and Kim Jeewoon round out the lineup, the latter appearing as one of this year’s three Carte Blanche curators. Japan sends a large delegation of stars led by Nagasawa Masami, including Emoto Tasuku, Ishibashi Shizuka, Kuroki Haru, Yokohama Ryusei, Yamazaki Kento, Matsushita Kouhei, Sawajiri Erika, Maruyama Ryuhei and Nagayama Eita.
A younger group of international names is also set to attend, among them Yeh Shuhua, Michelle Mao, Jin Ha and Thai star Davika Hoorne. BIFF’s gala presentation section will screen five films with their directors and casts in attendance. Kore-eda’s “Look Back” adapts Fujimoto Tatsuki’s manga for the screen.
Judith Godrèche’s “A Girl’s Story” revisits Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux’s most intimate memories to follow a young woman’s coming of age. July Jung’s “Dora,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, closes out the section. BIFF’s competition section, its main Asian cinema showcase, features 14 films from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Indonesia, four of them directorial debuts and four from women filmmakers.
Majidi’s “Midday Meal” anchors an international lineup that includes Kato Takuya’s “The Day After Sunday,” Chen Jiwen’s “Descendants,” Gu You’s “The First Taste of Loneliness,” Hirose Nanako’s “Between Two Lovers,” Eddie Cahyono’s “Ibuku,” Okita Shuichi’s “Satoko Always,” Yosep Anggi Noen’s “The Sea Speaks His Name,” Kim Jung-hoon’s “Shaving” and Lee Yun Chan’s “To Be Ordinary.” The four debut features come from Lim Hayeon, Botir Abdurakhmanov, Youm Kyubock and Tanaka Miki. The section serves as the entry point for BIFF’s New Currents Award, given to a standout directorial debut. Alongside competition, the festival’s Window on Asian Cinema section adds 28 further titles from established and emerging filmmakers working across Asia and its diaspora, many of them multi-country co-productions.
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