Busan International Film Festival

The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, formerly Pusan International Film Festival) is an annual film festival held in Busan in October. It is the most important film festival in South Korea and the largest in Asia. With around 200,000 visitors per year, over 300 films are screened.

The first festival was held in September 1996 and was the first international film festival in Korea. It featured 173 films from 31 countries. Since then, the festival has been held annually and steadily increased the number of films to 307 from 37 countries in 2005. The festival motto is "The World's Most Energetic Film Festival."

The main prize of the International Competition is the New Currents Award for the best new film by an Asian director. It is endowed with 30,000 US dollars. The festival is accredited by the film producers' association FIAPF as an international film festival with a specialized competition, whereby this specialization refers to new Asian films.

The Korean Cinema Award, on the other hand, does not go to a Korean director, but rather to non-Korean individuals who have rendered outstanding services to the promotion of Korean film abroad. Other awards are also presented in Busan, including one for the Asian Filmmaker of the Year and the FIPRESCI Award.

The Busan International Film Festival also has a large film market for Asian films. Since 2005, the festival has hosted the Asian Film Academy, which is open to young filmmakers from all over Asia for three weeks.

In 2005, the Austrian architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au won the tender to build the Busan Cinema Center as the new festival center.

In 2013, the festival had 217,865 visitors. The competition section New Currents for Asian films was won by the South Korean film Pasha by Ahn Seon-kyoung and the Mongolian film Remote control. As part of the festival, the four-day Asian Film Market exchange took place, with 198 companies from 32 countries participating.

In 2014, the mayor of Busan, Seo Byeong-su, wanted to prevent the screening of the documentary The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol because it was too critical of the government. The film highlights the sinking of the Sewol in April 2014 and the subsequent rescue efforts. The film industry responded with protests and the management did not want to lose the festival's identity and autonomy by caving in to political pressure. In the end, the documentary was screened as the opening film. However, the film festival received less financial support in the following years. Also, in the airing of the Sewol documentary lies the origin of a blacklist by Park Geun-hye's government, which includes left-leaning artists who should no longer receive support. The existence of the list became known in 2016 in the wake of the corruption scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye.

Some filmmakers boycotted the festival due to government intervention. The years 2015 to 2017 were troubled for the Busan International Film Festival, and in 2017, co-founder and program planner Kim Ji-seok suddenly passed away. In 2017, President Moon Jae-in visited the festival and emphasized its independence. In 2018, things returned to normal and there were no more boycotts against the festival.

New Currents Award

The New Currents category features the debut or second films of Asian directors. The best films receive the New Currents Award. The prize is endowed with 30,000 US dollars.