The Busan International Film Festival will present a special program: The Best Asian Films by Female Directors, ‘Wonder Women Movies’ for its 26th edition, which runs from October 6-15.

The hottest titles from the best Asian female directors at the 26th BIFF include:

Salaam Bombay!
The Murmuring
Capernaum
and many more...

BIFF’s special program: The Best Asian Films by Female Directors aims to draw attention to films of female directors and the progress they are making worldwide.

In 2015, the late Kim Jiseok, the former BIFF program director, planned the Asian Cinema 100 for the 20th BIFF edition. For the program, he requested film professionals around the world to recommend 10 of the best Asian films for inclusion in the top 100 list; a list which would be updated every five years. BIFF prepared the first update in 2020 that reflected the opinions of 140 film professionals throughout the world. As part of this project, a survey was conducted to select the 10 best Asian films by female directors. Every five years, BIFF will reevaluate and update ‘Asian Cinema 100’ by focusing on specific aspects within the Asian cinema industry and trends in Asian cinema aesthetics.

Salaam Bombay! (1988, India), a debut feature film directed by Mira Nair, a jury president of the New Currents competition at BIFF last year, has taken first place for the special program, ‘Wonder Women Movies’. The film depicts the devastating realities of daily lives in Bombay, India. It has achieved significant critical acclaim, winning 25 awards including the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival. The titles included in the program were: Blackboards (2000, Iran) by Samira Makhmalbaf, A Simple Life (2011, Hong Kong, China) by Ann Hui, The Murmuring (1995, Korea) by Byun Youngjoo, Suzaku (1994, Japan) by Kawase Naomi, The Day I Became a Woman (2000, Iran) by Marzieh Meshkini, Take Care of My Cat (2001, Korea) by Jeong Jae-eun, Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017, Indonesia/France/Malaysia/Thailand) by Mouly Surya, Capernaum (2018, Lebanon) by Nadine Labaki, and Wadjda (2012, Saudi Arabia) by Haifaa Al-Mansour.

The 26th BIFF will feature many programs and attractions. The 10 best Asian films selected in the special program, ‘Wonder Women Movies’, will be screened during this year’s BIFF edition. A special feature book, which will include commentary from the directors and recommendation letters from industry professionals, will be published. There will also be various programs, one of which will be a Special Talk between Korean filmmakers, international female filmmakers and the audiences at this year’s BIFF.