acrofan

Industry Economy TECH GAME
Society Comfort AUTO MEDIA

The 26th Busan International Film Festival Presents On Screen Section

  • Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 1:21 pm
  • ACROFAN=Newswire
  • newswire@acrofan.com
The 26th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which will be held from October 6th (Wed) to October 15th (Fri), is launching the new program, On Screen section. The section screens highly anticipated drama series that will be streamed over online video streaming platforms (Over-the-Top, hereinafter OTT).

The On Screen section plans to showcase highly anticipated drama series on OTT platforms as either world premieres or Asia premieres. The section aims to precisely reflect the current state of the market, which is expanding multi-directionally, while embracing the extended flow and value of cinema.

As BIFF accommodates not only traditional theatrical releases, but also OTT drama series with the new addition of the On Screen section, it is able to present more diverse and higher-quality works to the audience, whose range of fandom is expanding. On Screen section will be a swift and preeminent entrance into a new area of cinema.

The three drama series invited to the On Screen section, which have been confirmed through a careful and rigorous selection for the section’s first launch, are director Yeon Sang-ho's Hellbound, director Kim Jin-min’s My Name, and Forbidden, which was co-directed by directors Anucha Boonyawatana (Thailand) & Josh Kim (US). Hellbound and My Name are Korean dramas on Netflix, while Forbidden is HBO ASIA's original series.

Hellbound, which is based on the eponymous popular webtoon, tells the story of supernatural events in which people suddenly receive a hell-bound condemnation. The events lead to the establishment of a religious organization called the New Truth Church, which gains a following in the midst of the chaos, and those who try to reveal the truth of the situation become involved with each other. Director Yeon Sang-ho, who has provided the audience with a generic catharsis through a tight narrative and novel subjects in each of his works, is in charge of directing the series, which raises expectations for the opening of a new genre in Korean film. Veteran actors Yoo Ah-in, Park Jeong-min, Kim Hyun-joo, Won Jin-a, Yang Ik-june, Kim Do-yoon, Kim Sin-rock, Ryu Kyung-soo, and Lee Re add their own unique refinements to the show. The screening of this series is an Asia premiere, which is its second worldwide screening, following its first screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Director Kim Jin-min, whose Netflix series Extracurricular has surprised and shocked not only movie fans but also people in the film industry, has finally come out with his next work: My Name. The work is a powerful and captivating action noir with a female-led narrative that depicts the harsh truth of the protagonist (Han So-hee), who infiltrates the police using another name to reveal the secret of her father's death and to seek his revenge. Some of the trendiest acting talents in Korean cinema and stand-out performers, Han So-hee, Park Hee-soon, Ahn Bo-hyun, Kim Sang-ho, Lee Hak-ju, and Jang Yull make appearances. It is a world premiere.

Lastly, the series Forbidden was co-directed by Thai director Anucha Boonyawatana and Korean-American director Josh Kim. The two episodes premiering at BIFF 2021 were directed by Anucha Boonyawatana, who won the Kim Jiseok Award at BIFF 2017. Forbidden, the story of four friends who travel from Bangkok to a remote mountain village for one of their father's funeral, stars one of Thailand's rising stars, actor-singer Kritssanapoom Pibulsonggram. The still unreleased work is expected to present an extreme horror that incorporates many various plot twists. It is a world premiere.