Busan International Film Festival
Korea
All genres
The Busan International Film Festival (known as Pusan Festival prior to 2011) began in 1996 with the goal of becoming Asia’s most dynamic film event. It is now one of the largest film festivals in Asia, with more than 220,000 admissions in 2012 and screening 304 films from 75 countries.
The festival accepts features, shorts, documentaries and animation and screens them across various programs including Gala Presentations – world premieres; New Currents – an international competition for first or second features from Asian directors; Flash Forward – narrative features from non-Asian filmmakers; World Cinema – works by world-renowned filmmakers; Wide Angle – shorts, animation and documentaries; and Midnight Madness – horror, sci-fi and cult films.
Busan also hosts the Asian Film Market (AFM), a marketplace for all Asian film business, and the Asian Project Market (APM), which brings together filmmakers with potential co-producers or co-financiers.
In 2012 the Asian Film Market hosted 181 companies from 32 countries, with 80 market screenings from 16 countries. Attendees included domestic and international buyers, sellers and film industry executives.
ATTENDEES’ TIPS
“...for subjects with any Asian content this would be an ideal opportunity to explore possibilities for finance and presales in Asia.”
“Most of the networking took place after-hours at the functions organised by the festival. These were invaluable and impressed on me the importance of attending the industry ‘parties’ at future events. Because that’s where the professional relationships are forged, in an informal way.”
“There was an official marketplace operating during the festival. We met people regarding local sale opportunities for the film. We also got the details of other short film distributors in Europe, from other contacts made at the festival.”
“If you have a project that could be an Australian-Asian co-production, it’s also a good festival to target, it seems. Make sure you take your producer.”
“The sales opportunity came the instant our film was listed in the programme... That resulted in three sales agents bidding on the film during the festival.”
Screenings
2015
- World Cinema
- Last Cab To Darwin
2015
- World Cinema
- Daughter, The
2015
- World Cinema
- Dressmaker, The
2015
- Midnight Passion
- Backtrack
2014
- World Cinema
- Kill Me Three Times
2014
- Flash Forward
- Mule, The
2014
- Wide Angle
- Paper Planes
2014
- Midnight Passion
- Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead
2013
- World Cinema
- Mystery Road
2013
- Flash Forward
- Rocket, The
2013
- Flash Forward
- Canopy
2013
- Wide Angle
- Red Obsession
2013
- Wide Angle
- Fence, The
2012
- Gala Presentation
- Sapphires, The
2012
- World Cinema
- Lore
2012
- Wide Angle - Short Film Showcase
- Convenience
2011
- World Cinema; Special Programs in Focus
- Taj
2011
- Midnight Passion; Special Programs in Focus
- Snowtown
2011
- World Cinema; Special Programs in Focus
- Red Dog
2011
- Wide Angle; Special Programs in Focus
- Peekaboo
2011
- Wide Angle; Special Programs in Focus
- Mad As Hell: The Peter Finch Story
2011
- World Cinema; Special Programs in Focus
- Hunter, The