28th Busan International Film Festival

28th Busan International Film Festival
BIFF official poster
Opening filmBecause I Hate Korea by Jang Kun-jae
Closing filmThe Movie Emperor by Ning Hao
LocationBusan Cinema Center
Founded1995
Awards
Hosted by
No. of films269
Festival dateOpening: October 4, 2023 (2023-10-04)
Closing: October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13)
WebsiteBIFF 2023
Busan International Film Festival

The 28th Busan International Film Festival (Korean: 제28회 부산국제영화제) opened on October 4 at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea. Song Kang-ho of Parasite fame welcomed filmmakers as host of the festival, while Park Eun-bin acted as the moderator of the ceremony, which was broadcast live on YouTube channel and Naver TV.[1] Opening with South Korean film Because I Hate Korea by Jang Kun-jae, 269 films were screened, including 209 officially invited films from 69 countries and 60 community beef screenings.[2] Jung Sung-il, South Korean film critic, director and screenwriter served as chairman of the jury for its main competition section.[3]

BIFF this year opened special program, ‘Renaissance of Indonesian Cinema’ paying attention to Indonesia with 7 feature films and 5 short films, including a series to be released on Netflix.[4] Chow Yun-fat, a Hong Kong star, received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award, whereas Yoon Jeong-hee posthumously received the Korean Film Achievement Award.

BIFF closed on October 13 with Go Min-si and Hong Kyung acting as master of ceremonies,[5] and the Chinese film industry satire The Movie Emperor by Ning Hao, screened as closing film.[6]

The main award of the festival New Currents Award was given to Bangladeshi film The Wrestler by Iqbal H. Chowdhary, which follows an eccentric old fisherman who trains rigorously in a traditional form of wrestling; and Japanese film September 1923 by Tatsuya Mori, a historical feature marking 100 years of Great Kanto earthquake, which dramatises a massacre that followed the natural disaster.[7][8]

  1. ^ Lee Ha-neul (October 3, 2023). "28th BIFF 개막식, 온라인 통해 생중계된다" [28th BIFF opening ceremony to be broadcast live online]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  2. ^ Yang Yu-jin (September 5, 2023). "송강호, 제28회 부산국제영화제 대표한다…'올해의 호스트' 확정" [Song Kang-ho represents the 28th Busan International Film Festival... ‘Host of the Year’ confirmed]. My Daily (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference jury:variety was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference icr:lead was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference mc:cc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference sd:bg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference awards:sd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The 28th Busan International Film Festival: List of awards and winners". Busan International Film Festival. October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.