The 22nd Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) announced the recipient of its Korean Cinema Award. “BIFF has selected Christoph Terhechte, the head of the Berlin International Film Festival’s Forum section, as the recipient of this year’s Korean Cinema Award.” the festival released in a statement on August 28th. 

The Korean Cinema Award is granted to a notable figure that has made significant contributions in promoting Korean cinema to audiences around the world. It has been given to international film festival officials who have introduced Korean films worldwide such as Simon Field, Director of the Rotterdam International Film Festival, and Tony Rayns, Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival. For the 10th edition, Dieter Kosslick, Director of the Berlin International Film Festival, received the award.

Christoph Terhechte has actively introduced a wide range of Korean cinema to global audiences since he was appointed head of the Berlinale section in 2001. He has consistently introduced Korean films, both classics and new works, and recently invited young Korean directors such as LEE Yong-seung of 10 Minutes (2014), JUNG Yoon-suk of Non Fiction Diary (2014), Kelvin Kyung Kun PARK of A Dream of Iron (2014) and KIM Dae-hwan of End of Winter (2016) to the forum section. This year, he also invited restored films such as An Aimless Bullet (1961) by YU Hyun-mok and The Last Witness (1980) by LEE Doo-yong as well as Autumn, Autumn (2016) by JANG Woo-jin. 

Meanwhile, the Korean Cinema Award will be presented at the opening ceremony on October 12th.