Results of the 17th BIFF and AFM
17 is an age that is often used as a symbol of adolescence, the shifting phase from childhood to adulthood. Similarly, for BIFF, this year was an opportunity for the festival to proceed one step further. Let’s take a look at a summary of what happened during the 17th edition of the
BIFF as it has further matured.
“As the number of the festival days has gone up, so has the maturity level of the audience.” said LEE Yong-kwan, BIFF Festival Director, about this year's edition. At the closing press conference held on October 13th, LEE said “The Busan Cinema Center has now firmly been established as the main venue of the festival. We need to explore further how to make best use of the Nampo area.”
By virtue of the extension of the festival period embracing one more weekend, the number of visitors increased, breaking the 200 thousand mark for the first time. However what is more important is the improvement in viewing quality afforded by the festival's new cinema-viewing environment.
The 17th Busan International Film Festival, held from October 4th to 13th, screened a total of 304 films from 75 countries. There were 93 world premieres and 39 international premieres. A total of 221,002 people viewed films on 37 screens at 7 theaters.
※ BIFF Awards and Recipients
This year, the Asian Film Market also demonstrated some stable growth. There was a steady increase in market participants, buyers and Market & Online Screenings, and the successful launch of new initiatives such as Book to Film and the KOFIC Industry Forum.
The Asian Film Market had a successful run from its start on Oct. 8 all the way to its Oct. 11 close. This year’s market held at BEXCO satisfied attendants with upgraded facilities and operating systems resulting in the registration of 690 companies and 1,098 badges, an increase from last year which ended with 585 companies and 1,080 badges. Moreover, a total of 32 countries, 181 companies, and 96 booths were featured while around 2,635 buyers and filmmakers paid a visit during the market's opening day.
CJ Entertainment’s
Masquerade,
Deranged,
Perfect Number, and
Spellbound,
Showbox’s
The Thieves, and
A Company Man,
Mirovision’s
Our Homeland,
Melo, and
Stateless Things, and
9er Entertainment’s
Never Ending Story, and
Sunday Punch all closed deals. The festival has estimated that approximately 70 films were sold during this year’s Asian Film Market.
However, it was not only Korean films that closed as films from CMG of USA, Solar Media and Beta Cinema of Germany, and Celluloid Dreams and Le pact of France all made sales to numerous Asian countries. As for the market screenings, compared to last year’s 60 films, 70 films from 16 countries were screened 80 times.
40 premieres were held, an increase of 5 titles over last year and the number of screeningss also increased from 64 to 80. The online screening segment, which launched in 2010, had 281 screenings, 23 more from last year, providing a more comfortable environment for the participants to enjoy the films. What caught more attention was the 180 films that were chosen by BIFF which were posted as online screenings.
The Asian Project Market, held during the same period as the Asian Film Market, was also able to arrange meetings with investors. KOFIC Industry Forum with the theme of ‘international co-production’, organized by the Korean Film Council for the first time was also successfully held with various seminars, presentations, business meeting and pam tours (Refer to KOFIC NEWS for more information on KOFIC Industry Forum).
The well balanced improvement in both quantity and quality at BIFF and AFM is crucial and meaningful not only for the festival itself. The expansive change of the festival is certainly having a positive influence on both the Asian and global film industries.
17 is an age that is often used as a symbol of adolescence, the shifting phase from childhood to adulthood. Similarly, for BIFF, this year was an opportunity for the festival to proceed one step further. Let’s take a look at a summary of what happened during the 17th edition of the BIFF as it has further matured.“As the number of the festival days has gone up, so has the maturity level of the audience.” said LEE Yong-kwan, BIFF Festival Director, about this year's edition. At the closing press conference held on October 13th, LEE said “The Busan Cinema Center has now firmly been established as the main venue of the festival. We need to explore further how to make best use of the Nampo area.”By virtue of the extension of the festival period embracing one more weekend, the number of visitors increased, breaking the 200 thousand mark for the first time. However what is more important is the improvement in viewing quality afforded by the festival's new cinema-viewing environment.The 17th Busan International Film Festival, held from October 4th to 13th, screened a total of 304 films from 75 countries. There were 93 world premieres and 39 international premieres. A total of 221,002 people viewed films on 37 screens at 7 theaters.※ BIFF Awards and Recipients
