The 27th Busan International Film Festival, which will be held from Oct 5 (Wed) to Oct 14 (Fri), has confirmed the jury member lineup for the BIFF Mecenat Award and the Sonje Award.

- Directors Representing Asian Cinema of Today! WANG Bing, Ossama MOHAMMED, KIM Il-rhan to Serve as the BIFF Mecenat Award Jury

The BIFF Mecenat Award is awarded to the best Korean and Asian feature documentary in the Wide Angle competition section. The BIFF Mecenat Awards aims to discover and support talented and emerging documentarists. The jury members consist of three directors of different nationalities to highlight new Asian directors across the continent. Each of the two selected winners will be granted 10,000,000 KRW.

Chinese director Wang Bing, who has brought about a paradigm shift in the world of documentaries, has been appointed as the jury president for the 27th Busan International Film Festival’s BIFF Mecenat Award. In addition, director Ossama Mohammed, who documented the current situation of Syrian society with a keen eye through the camera lens and who was also invited to several of the world’s leading film festivals, and director Kim Il-rhan, who shines a spotlight on unseen, socially marginalized people, will also be joining as jury members.

- The Sonje Award Searching for the Best Asian Short Film! Saeed ROUSTAEE, HAYAKAWA Chie, and YOON Gaeun Appointed as Jury Members

The Sonje Award is given to the best Korean and Asian short films in the Wide Angle competition section. Each of the 2 best short films, which will be carefully selected by the 3 jury members, will be awarded a cash prize of 10,000,000 KRW.

This year’s jury includes Saeed Roustaee, winner of the FIPRESCI award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival for Leila’s Brothers (2022), Hayakawa Chie, winner of the Golden Camera Special Mention at the 75th Cannes Film Festival for Plan 75 (2022), and Yoon Gaeun, director of The World of Us (2016) and The House of Us (2019).

The 27th Busan International Film Festival will be held at the Busan Cinema Center from Oct 5 (Wed) to 14 (Fri).

■ The 27th Busan International Film Festival: Oct 5 (Wed) – Oct 14 (Fri)
■ The 17th Asian Contents & Film Market: Oct 8 (Sat) – Oct 11 (Tues)