The Busan International Film Festival has announced the winners and confirmed early dates for 2025.
The Land of Morning Calm (Korea), directed by Park Ri-eun, and MA – Cry of Silence, directed by The Maw Naing (Myanmar/Korea/Singapore/France/Norway/Qatar) shared the New Currents Award.
Rima Das’ “Village Rockstars 2” (India/Singapore) and Tom Lin Shu-yu’s “Yen and Ai-Lee” (Taiwan) jointly win the Kim Ji-seok Award for experienced filmmakers. did.
The Land of Morning Calm impressed the judges with its “storytelling skills and ability to express subtle emotional depth” as it explored personal conflicts within a rural coastal community. . “MA – A Silent Cry” was hailed as a “brave depiction of resistance” to Myanmar’s political challenges. “The Land of Morning Calm” also won the KB New Currents Audience Award. The film also won the NETPAC Award, which was previously announced as part of the Busan Vision Awards.
The New Currents Award jury was chaired by dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasolov, and included Korean director Lee Myung-se, Chinese actor Zhou Dongyu, Indian actor Kani Kusruti, and Croatian international It was made up of members including Film Festival Rotterdam director Vanja Kaldjelčić.
In the Kim Ji-seok Award category, “Village Rockstars 2” was praised for its “honest and poetic depiction of everyday life,” while “Yen and Ai Li” was lauded for its “honest and poetic depiction of the relationship between a traumatic mother and daughter.” It was praised as “unfinished and boldly drawn.” ” The jury for this award was made up of Cannes Film Festival Film Director Christian Jeune, Sri Lankan director Prasanna Vithanaj, and South Korean director Shin Soo-won.
The BIFF Mecenat Award in the Documentary category was won by Park Min-soo and Ahn Kern-hyung (South Korea) for “Works and Days,” and Frankie Shin (Taiwan/Hong Kong, China/France) for “Another Home.” The judges in this category included Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Japan’s DD Center director Asako Fujioka, and South Korean director Lee Soo-jung.
In the short film category, Song Ji-seo’s “Yurim” (Korea) and Eleonore Mahmoudian and Hiroshi Matsui’s “Winter Garden” (Japan/France) won the Sungjae Award. The jury for the Sung Jae Award was comprised of Korean director Lim Dae-hyun, American director Constance Tsang, and Japanese director Yoko Yamanaka.
At the same film festival, Yoo Yi Ha was awarded the Best Actor of the Year Award (Male) for “Final Semester” (Korea), and Park Seo Yoon was awarded the Best Actor of the Year Award (Female) for “Humming” (Korea). . The judges in this category included Korean actors Kim Sun Young and Ryu Jun Yeol.
Memories of a Burning Body (Costa Rica/Spain), directed by Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, won the Flash Forward Audience Award. “K-Number” (Korea), directed by Cho Se-young, won the Documentary Audience Award.
The 2025 edition of the festival, now in its 30th year, will be held from September 17th to 26th instead of its usual October date, while the adjacent Asian Content & Film Market will be held from September 20th to 23rd. The reason for moving the date forward is to avoid conflict with Chuseok, a three-day holiday in South Korea next October, and the Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival.
