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ZHANG Lu’s A Quiet Dream to Open 21st BIFF
2016 Busan Program Features Over 300 Films
In the lead up to its 2016 edition, the Busan International Film Festival has put together an impressive lineup for its 21st annual event. A total of 301 films from 69 countries will be screened at the festival, including 96 world premieres and 27 international premieres.
Opening this year’s event will be A Quiet Dream, a new local effort from ZHANG Lu, which features HAN Ye-ri acting alongside several Korean directors playing her potential suitors, including PARK Jung-bum, YOON Jong-bin and YANG Ik-june. ZHANG previously picked up the New Currents Award at BIFF in 2005 with Grain In Ear.
Hussein HASSAN’s third film The Dark Wind, a co-production set in Iraq, will serve as the festival’s closing presentation. Other Gala Screenings include Ben Younger’s boxing drama Bleed for This, KUROSAWA Kiyoshi’s French-language drama Daguerrotype, LEE Sang-il’s Japanese thriller Rage and SHINKAI Makoto’s Japanese animation your name..
Organizing committee chairman KIM Dong-ho said that following this year’s edition, “We will have a public hearing with citizens and professionals to allow us to shape a more citizen-oriented and open-minded festival. We want to enhance the image of BIFF which has been tarnished.”
Several high profile Korean films from this year will be featured in the Panorama section of the Korean Cinema Today program, including KIM Jee-woon’s The Age of Shadows, PARK Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden and NA Hong-jin’s THE WAILING. The Korean Cinema Today Vision section will showcase several works from new independent voices, as well as established ones such as Camel(s) (2002) director PARK Kiyong with Picture of Hell and Host & Guest (2006) helmer SHIN Dong-il’s Come, Together.
The signature New Currents competition, which will feature local works Merry Christmas Mr. Mo from LIM Dae-hyeong and LEE Dong-eun’s In Between Seasons, among others, will feature a jury comprising Malian director Souleymane Cisse, director ZHANG Lu, Indian producer Guneet Monga, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s festival director Bero Beyer and Iranian cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari.
This year’s retrospective programs at BIFF include a look back on the works of local genre smith LEE Doo-yong and the late Iranian master filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, as well as a section on Colombian cinema.
