Preparations are well underway for the 18th Busan International Film Festival  (BIFF), which is due to take place from the 3rd to the 12th of October.

BIFF 2013 will feature a staggering 300 films from 70 countries, with 136 of those world and/or international premieres.

Amongst returning categories including ‘Gala Presentation‘, ‘New Currents‘, ‘Korean Cinema Today‘, and so forth, are a number of special programs for cineastes.

‘Fly High, Run Far: The Making of Korean Master Im Kwon-taek‘ is an incredible retrospective for the filmmaking giant. Director Im has helmed an unbelievable 101 films during his career, and to celebrate his contribution to the film industry BIFF 2013 will screen a whopping 71 of his films as well as conduct a hand-printing ceremony in his honour. To accommodate so many films, and in an unprecedented move, the retrospective will begin 10 days early as well as feature a host of guest speakers ranging from film professionals to academics at the screenings.

Meanwhile ‘Park Chul-soo Special Commemoration: Eternal Movie Youth‘ is a celebration of the films of director Park who tragically died earlier this year. Five of the director’s films are due to be screened, including the world premiere of Green Chair 2013 – Love Conceptually (녹색의자2013-러브 컨셉츄얼리), the posthumous release of his last production.

Additionally, ‘Rogues, Rebels and Romantics: A Season of Irish Cinema‘ is a recognition of the filmic output from the Emerald Isle, which also sees director Jim Sheridan get the hand-printing treatment alongside the screening of two of his most famous films. A little closer to home, ‘The Unknown New Wave of Central Asian Cinema‘ champions eight forgotten masterpieces from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Please see below for the serene BIFF 2013 trailer.

BIFF 2013 will also open the festival with Bhutanese drama Vara: A Blessing by director/Buddhist monk Khyentse Norbu – the first film hailing from outside of Korea or China to do so in the festival’s history. BIFF 2013 will close with Korean film The Dinner (만찬) by director Kim Dong-hyun (김동현), his third film and his latest since 2005’s A Shark (상어).

Opening Film

Vara: A Blessing (Bhutan)

Vara: A Blessing is director/Buddhist monk Khyentse Norbu’s third film, adapted from the Indian short story ‘Rakta Aar Kanna’ (Blood and Tears) by Sunil Gangopadhyay. The film interprets the Indian dance Bharatanatyam through a forbidden love between a young couple. Featuring Buddhist themes of truth-seeking and the path to enlightenment, Vara depicts the story of Lila, a young woman learning the traditional dance from her mother, who falls in love with poor sculptor Shyam. While Shyam worships Lila as a goddess and she in turn imagines him as Lord Krishna, their relationship becomes extremely problematic when Subha, the village leader, objects to their union.

Closing Film

The Dinner (만찬) (Korea)

Director Kim Dong-hyun explores the modern Korean family in his latest film. Each member of the family struggles with various burdens involving work and family, yet financial concerns are the chief cause of stress for them all. Despite such hardships, the elderly father wishes to treat his wife with a meal of hamburgers for her birthday, something she has never tried before. Yet as the day wears on it becomes increasingly apparent that none of their three children have either remembered nor planned anything for their mother’s special day, as they are so caught up in their own circumstances. When even greater tragedy threatens them, they must learn to cope with their burdens as a family.

For more information from the official BIFF 2013 website, please click here.