Song Joong-ki, Bong Joon-ho, Lee Je-hoon, Han So-hee… Festival start of BIFF

 The 'Festival of Filmmakers' begins. From master directors to Hallyu stars, the Busan International Film Festival is back with a more colorful and powerful film festival schedule.

The 26th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) will be held throughout Busan from the 6th to the 15th under the slogan of 'With Corona'.

Unlike last year, when the scale was reduced due to COVID-19, this year's red carpet event will be revived. Entries are also 100% available in theaters. It is quite different from last year, when both the opening and closing ceremonies and outdoor events were canceled, creating a gloomy atmosphere.

This year, 223 films from 70 countries were invited to this year's BIFF, and only 50% of the seats are operated in line with social distancing, the 3-step quarantine rules. The screens were expanded to 6 theaters and 29 screens including CGV, Lotte Cinema, and Sohyang Theater. However, attendees of the opening and closing ceremonies and recipients of film festival badges must have a negative genetic detection test (PCR test) certificate within 72 hours or a certificate of completion of vaccination after 2 weeks.

On the 6th, actors Song Joong-ki and Park So-dam attended the opening ceremony as hosts to announce the start of BIFF. The opening film is 'To the Land of Happiness' directed by Im Sang-soo. It was included in the Cannes official selection last year and was first unveiled in Busan this year. It is a road movie where actors Choi Min-sik and Park Hae-il, each of whom are sentenced to life-limited sentences, and a patient with a rare incurable disease who lives by stealing medicine because they do not have money for it.

On the 7th, Song Joong-ki will have an open talk for 'Victory', and actor Lee Je-hoon will meet with Busan citizens for the 'Actors House' event. Director Bong Joon-ho, who captivated the world with 'Parasite' last year, also decided to attend the BIFF to revitalize the festival. Director Bong will have a special conversation with director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who directed 'Drive My Car' and 'Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy'. Actress Jeon Yeo-bin communicates with fans through 'Community Life Day X Day and Miss Jeon Yeo-bin'.

On the 8th, stars travel all over the festival schedule. Through the open talk of the short film project 'Unframed', you can meet actors Lee Je-hoon, Park Jung-min, Son Seok-gu, and Choi Hee-seo, who have turned into directors. There will also be an open talk of 'My Name', led by actors from the Netflix 'Hell' team, including Yoo Ah-in, and Han So-hee. Actor Jeon Jong-seo, who was invited to the Hollywood movie 'Mona Lisa and Blood Moon', will also attend the festival. Han Ye-ri, the main character of the movie 'Minari', will tell her story through 'Actor's House' on this day. In addition, Lee Kwang-soo and Kim Seong-gyun, the box office stars of the movie 'Sinkhole', will also meet with fans on the outdoor stage of the Seoul Cinema Center, raising the enthusiasm of the film festival.

On the 9th, you can meet actors Jo Jin-woong and Byun Yo-han at 'Actor's House'. On the 10th, director Park Chan-wook holds the microphone through the 'Community TV Proquest Cinema The Image of Madness Seen by Mr. On the 14th, actress Uhm Jung-hwa is the last runner of 'Actor's House' and will again show the side of 'movie actress Uhm Jung-Hwa.

Director Im Kwon-taek, who directed more than 100 films, including 'Sister's, 'The General's Son' and 'Seopyeonje', visits Busan as the recipient of the Asian Film Artist of the Year Award. Director Lee Chang-dong of 'Burning' visits film festivals as he serves as the jury chairman of this year's Asia Film Awards. Among the overseas coaches, Leo Karax, Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Deepa Mehta, and Reza Mirkarimi will visit Korea in person.

The current situation, where the primary vaccination rate for people over the age of 18 has exceeded 90%, made it possible to try to 'normalize the film festival'. However, concerns are high as expected. The four-digit number of confirmed cases since July 7 has been on an upward and downward trend for over 90 days. Interest is gathering whether the 26th Busan International Film Festival will be able to normalize the film festival and catch both rabbits.