The 24th Busan International Film Festival, held from October 3 to 12, will exhibit a Special Program in Focus on the ‘100th Anniversary of Korean Cinema’ and ‘Asia’s Leading Women Filmmakers.’

The 100 Year History of Korean Cinema, 10 Great Korean Films

The Busan International Film Festival will screen various representative films of Korean masters in celebration of the centennial anniversary of Korean Cinema. Programmer Jung Han-seok said, “One of the crucial roles of the Busan International Film Festival is to archive, select, and introduce compelling traditional Korean films that encapsulate Korean history, traditions, and customs." The festival selected 10 films after a deep discussion led by 37 committee members of ‘The Movie We Loved: 100 Years of Korean Cinema’ organized by the Hankyoreh Daily and CJ Cultural Foundation.

The 10 selected films in the Special Program in Focus represent the historical and cultural heritage under the theme of ‘The 100 Year History of Korean Cinema, 10 Great Korean Films.’ The selections are The Housemaid (1960) by director Kim Ki-young, Aimless Bullet (1961) by director Yu Hyun-mok, A Day Off (1968) by director Lee Man-hee, The March of Fools (1975) by director Ha Gil-jong, Good Windy Days (1980) by director Lee Jang-ho, Why has BOHDI – Dalma Left for the East? (1989) by director Bae Yong-kyoon, Sopyeonje (1993) by director Im Kwon-taek, The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1996) by director Hong Sang-soo, Memories of Murder (2003) by director Bong Joon Ho, and Old Boy (2003) by director Park Chan-wook. Guest Visit events with domestic and internationally renowned filmmakers and directors will be held during the festival.

Gaze and Memories – Asia’s Leading Women Filmmakers

This year, another eagerly awaited Special Program in Focus at the Busan International Film Festival is ‘Gaze and Memories– Asia’s Leading Women Filmmakers.’ Deepa Mehta from India, Yasmin Ahmad from Malaysia, and Trinh T. Minh-ha from Vietnam will lead the program. Persistent work through the decades with different genre style has enabled director, Yasmin Ahmad to build on remarkable achievements that led to a breakout in 2009 whereas allowed Deepa Mehta and Trinh T. Minh-ha to continue with contemporary relevance.

In this year’s special program, Deepa Mehta’s 3 films, Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005), cover sensitive issues on Indian women, hierarchy and sexuality along with Yasmin Ahmad’s Mukhsin (2006) and Talentime (2009) that are reinterpreted through the love and sexuality of naïve youth as a response to social controversies against society and religion. Included in the 8 finalized selections are Reassemblage (1983), Surname Viet Given Name Nam (1989) and Forgetting Vietnam (2016), directed by Trinh T. Minh-ha, who has cinematized issues on post-colonialism and gender as well as history. As a feminist director who is also a post-colonialism scholar, Trinh T. Minh-ha will be the keynote speaker of South and Southeast Asian Cinema section at Forum BIFF on October 9. In this special forum, both internal and external film scholars will lead the floor by sharing academic presentations and discussions on this year’s Special Program in Focus. Director Trinh T. Minh-ha will be at the GV event to engage moviegoers after the screening.