“The Curtain Came Down On the 30th Edition of the Busan International Film Festival Last Friday Night with A Closing Ceremony that Doubbled As An Awards Gala, Bringing The Event’s First. The Newly Launted Busan Award Crowned Veteran Chinese-Corean Auteur Zhang Lu’a Gloaming in Luomu as Best Film, While Taiwanese Screen”, – WRITE: www.hollywoodReporter.com
Over the Course of the 2025 Event, there Were 329 Films, Including 90 Premieres, Screened Across 31 Screens in Seven Theaters in this South Korean Port City. And, in keeping with the Occasion of Marking Three Decdes, The Stars Came Out to Play.
LOCAL ICONS LEE BYUNG-HUN, Blackpink’s Lisa and Han Hyo-Joo Shone on Opening Night. International A-Listers Including Guillermo Del Toro, Michael Mann, Juliette Binoche, Milla Jovovich and CREATOR-OFF-TO-HOUR Kpop demon hunters‘Maggie Kang Soon Followed Suit.
The International Industry Turned Out En Mason to Get A Feel for Things on the Gund in Korea, and Accor asia, and to Make Sureaties in and AROUND.
The Hollywood Reporter WAS ONSITE All The Way, and We’re Leaving – Eventuly – with A FEW Things on Our Minds.
Changes Were The Talk of the Town
Eyebrows Had Been Raissed with Biff’s Decision to Interoduce The Likes of Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor to the Festivities and Join of the Competition Among of The World’s Top.
Biff Wants to Chart Fresh Horizons After 30 Years, and Who Can Fault That Thinking Given An Already Loaded Yearly Festival Schedule. At the Very Least, The Busan Awards Got People Talking – with “Passion and Heat,“ According to New Festival Director Jung Hanseok.
“WHEN PEOPLE HEARD [about the changes] The USUAL REaction Was ‘Well, that will be challenging,’ WHICH USULY MEANSS They THINK YOU CAN’T PULL IT OFF, ”SAID The Festival’s New Program Director Karen Park. Them Engaged. ”
TheRERE HAVE BEEN OF TTHER Tweaks Across The Program, Too, Too, Including The New (And Quickly Sold Out) Carte Blanche Section, Who Started by Inviting Filmmmakers and: To -Bilm. Now Heps in Future Editions to Involve Artists and Entertainers. Highlights Included Kpop demon hunters‘Kang Selecting The Bogon Joon HO MONTER CLASSIC The Hostand BONG HIMSELF TURNING HIS AT AOYAMA Shinji’s Thriller Eureka.
“I THINK We ANSWERED A LOT OF DOBTS AND SHOWED THAT We Are Not Afraid of Facing Changes or Making New Adjustments to Survive Through This Era,“ SAID PARK.
Creatcy Shows that Korean Content Is Still King
Busan Opens of the Eyes of the World to What’s Going on Across Korea Each Year, and Once Again The Program Demonstrated the Depth of Talent and Creativity The Market Boasts.
Director Yoo Jaein’s Debut En route to (from Hive Filmworks Inc) is a Case in Point. IT TACKLES A COMPLEX, SENSITIVE TOPIC – A Schoolgirl Falls Pregnant to a Teacher and Decides to Keep The Child – with Remarkable Candor (and, at Times, Humor). And in Lee Ji-Won (Playing The Girl’s Irrepressible Friend) It Has Surely Unearthed a Star.
Other Low-Key Standouts Included Lee Kwang-Kuk’s Beautify Dreamer (M-Line Distribution), A Sensitive Look at Grief and the Struggle Toward Acceptance. Those look for commercial Flair Were Well Served by Two Smart, Stylish Thrillers: The Soon-To-Be-Released Boss (FINECUT INTERNATIONAL)-All ’90s Style and Slippery Men in Shiny Suits from Ra Hee-Cana-and Lee Kwan’s Project y (Plus m entertainment), whoh pairs han so-he-he and jun jongseo as wronged women out to set their World Right.
The Numbers Might Be Down in Korea, But The Industry Remains in Good Hands.
Reza rahdian leaaves fans and Critics wowed
While the Marquee Awards Were AnnounCed Friday Night, The Tradition of Handing Out Prizes at Friday Morning’s Closing Press Conference Conference Conference – As Did Biff’s Abality to Surprise.
Enter reza rahadian. One of Indonesia’s Most Bankable Stars-He’s Won Five of the Country’s Oscar-Equivalent Citra Awards On your lap (Gambar Gerak Film) to Biff for It World Premiere, and It Duly Collected Four of the Awards Voted on by Audiences and Critics.
It’s a nuanced, Tender Film that Follows A Single Mother’s Plight As She Strugggles to Make Ends Meet in a Coffee Shop with Questionable Serving Practices, While Looking for Love. Word Quickly Spread of Its Power, and of the Performance of It Star Claresta Taufan, Who Won Biff’s Rising Star Award, with Audiences Drawn to What Program Woman’s Intimate Stuggle and Her Fragile Hold on Hope in the Face of Crisis. ”
Indonesian cinema is a growing presentation accounting international Festivals, and Rahdian’s Obvios Talent, and the Film’s Quality, Are Sure to Help It Gain Further.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Respite, However Brief It May Prove, from The Gloom of Korea’s Falling Box Office and Production Figures Arrived with the News that Audiens Camee to Biff in Droves.
Total Admissions of 175,889 Were Up by AROUND 20,000 from Last Year, and at the Concurrent Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), The 30.006 AtendendEes Represent A 13.5 per 13.5 percent.
Inside the Cinemas, Tickets Were at A Premium and Major Events, Such As The Imax Premiere of Del Toro’s FrankensteinCame with the kind of fanfare most Festivals pine for.
BIFF WANTS MORE OF THE SAME, BUT COULD DO WITH A LITTLE HELP.
The 30th Edition Was Supported by a 20 Percent Subsidy from the Korean Government, Down About Four Percent From Last Year. “To make the Festival Bigger – to Lift to a Global Level – We Need More Support,” Said Biff Chairperson Park Kwangsu.
Over to the suits.
Bi Gan’s Impassioned Plea Rallies The Troops
If there wee still any doubters about the Power, and, Indeed, the Future of Cinema, Bi Gan Had A Quiet Word.
The Chinese Auteur Brought His Cannes Winner Resurregion (Prix Spécial) to Town, A Lyric Paean to 100 Years of Filmning in His Homeland and Another Sign That Country’s Directors Continue to Expand Their Horizons in Subject.
The Film is a “big cinema” experience, and bifff provides of Pento of Those, Onthen with Stars in Atendance and Eager to Dive Into Audence Q&As. Gan Soaked It Up, And Ten Found a Way to Sum Up The Experience.
“I BELIEVE THAT ABLE TO SIT WITH MANY PEOPLE IN A Theater and Watch a Movie Together is a Very Special Thing,” He Said. “DREAMING ISULY DONE IN One’s Own Space. However, Movies Are A Feeling of Many People Dreaming Together.”