October is the month of Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). For the past few years, most new Korean films that have been warmly received in the international festivals have been introduced at BIFF. KoBiz has worked closely with directors and international film sales companies to invite as many Korean films as possible on the online screening list. 

As in the past, each section in BIFF has several Korean films that have made great news. Korean Cinema Today–Panorama includes historical blockbusters that have swept the nation this summer and leading directors’ new films that have been invited to several international film festivals. Two Korean films are screened in New Currents, which explores promising rookies to build the future of Asian cinema. Korean Cinema Today–Vision and Wide Angle sections are full of brilliant indie films and documentaries in various perspectives and social strata. Especially, for the last few years, Korean Cinema Today-Vision has become the birth place of Korean independent filmmakers. 

This year KoBiz Online Screening shows 34 Korean shorts and features. The Table by KIM Jong-kwan, whose recent work Worst Woman has dominated the diversity chart, is famous for featuring representative Korean actresses including LIM Soo-jung, JUNG Yu-Mi and HAN Ye-ri. Fabulous features also include: Autumn, Autumn by JANG Woo-jin, whose feature debut A Fresh Start (2014) was invited to the Jeonju International Film Festival and Locarno International Film Festival 2 years ago; Come, Together by SHIN Dong-il, depicting an unstable family in Korea today; and Yongsoon by SHIN Joon, illustrating a straightforward love story of a high school girl who has a crush on her gym teacher.

In the shorts section, interesting line-ups include: The Master : An Ordinary Man by YUN Pu-hui, introducing a pizza delivery man who is struggling to raise salary for everybody in the store; Viewer by KIM So-youn, depicting a coin laundry shop owner who watches a dancing boy through CCTV; and Missing by YOO Dong-gyu who is suffering from hearing strange noise and not being able to sleep since his wife’s funeral.

Festival Screening: BIFF 2016 will be held at https://screening.koreanfilm.or.kr for three months from October 20th.