These are twelve short films you shouldn’t miss at the 25th Busan International Film Festival which will take place from October 21st – 30th (2020) in Busan, Korea.

About the festival:
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) held annually in Haeundaegu, Busan (Korea) is one of the most important film festivals in Asia, together with the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Tokyo International Film Festival. Since the first edition in 1996, the festival aim to introduce new films and first-time directors to the world. Another notable feature is the appeal of the festival to young people, both in terms of the large youthful audience it attracts and through its efforts to develop and promote young talent.

Selected Films:

A sick and poor couple goes out to find out their daughter’s unjust death. The police refuse to reinvestigate the suicide, which was closed in a hurry without revealing the assailant. The computer-blind couple soon decide to make their own banners calling for a reinvestigation. The film represents a bitter tragedy built up with extraordinary emotion. (Kang Sowon)

Screening Date:
October 21st, 2020 (Wednesday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 1 | 16:30 pm

Trailer:

Hero, a reclusive loner with severe pandemonium, is a regular customer at a convenience store. Sana, a part-timer at the store, keeps talking to him when he comes to buy the same bread every day. Hero is puzzled and uncomfortable with her interest. Hero′s heroic tale is encouraged by the faint connection between the socially displaced. (Kang Sowon)

Screening Dates:
October 21st, 2020 (Wednesday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 1 | 16:30 pm

Trailer:

Younghee visits her boyfriend, Chulsoo who lives on Ulleung Island, in order to bid him farewell. However, she gets stuck on the island due to a sudden windstorm alert. Younghee should have an awkward and troubled day with Chulsoo. An unexpected companion that begins with an unannounced declaration of separation details their funny and mournful last day. (Kang Sowon)

Screening Dates:
October 22nd, 2020 (Thursday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 1 | 16:30 pm

Heeji, who studies architecture, loves her best friend Eunseo. Eunseo asks Heeji to live with her. Eunseo wants to live in a house designed by Heeji in the future. Heeji wants to know if Eunseo’s mind is the same as hers. A landscape of relationships drawn by two minds crossing and mixed. (Kang Sowon)

Screening Dates:
October 22nd, 2020 (Thursday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 1 | 13:30 pm

Trailer:

An introverted teenage boy lies to his parents that he’d sleep over at his friends’. However, he made an appointment with a random guy found on a dating app. The street is filled with dead hustlers, but nobody seems to notice these strange occurrences. (Park Sungho)

Screening Dates:
October 28th, 2020 (Wednesday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 1 | 20:00 pm

Trailer:

Kanya is a successful swimmer who has been chosen to represent her state. However, her secondary sex characteristic starts to confuse her. The tension between her family and society’s demands as well as her physical and psychological transformation is depicted through the cross editing of images. (Park Sungho)

Screening Dates:
October 29th, 2020 (Thursday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 2 | 19:30 pm

Trailer:

J.C., a boy who has just started puberty, joins a religious camp. While he participates in the programs, he gets confused between constantly emerging sexual fantasies and his socially assigned roles. (Park Sungho)

Screening Date:
October 29th, 2020 (Thursday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 2 | 19:30 pm

Trailer:

A mother overly protects her daughter by having her stay home all the time even without going to school. One day, the mother takes her daughter to a shaman to heal evil spirits, but the daughter does not believe in superstition. (Park Sungho)

Screening Dates:
October 29th, 2020 (Thursday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 2 | 19:30 pm

Trailer:

Pich works at a beauty salon and spends most of her nights at work chatting and gossiping with coworkers and customers. One night, she gives into her restrained interest in a delivery man who visits her every night. (Park Sungho)

Screening Dates:
October 29th, 2020 (Thursday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 2 | 19:30 pm

Trailer:

Xiao Le, a young determined Christian woman tries to save her dying grandfather’s soul by converting him. However, her mother in the traditional Taoist family cannot understand her daughter’s behavior. (Park Sungho)

Screening Dates:
October 28th, 2020 (Wednesday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 2 | 20:00 pm

Trailer:

Another ice age on Earth is coming. People take ‘the Migration-ship’ and leave for the new planet one by one. Yunha will board the ship after fulfilling her mother’s will. But she finds out that her father is alive, who was said to be dead. The film represents a SF Dystopia with no special effects that is reminiscent of The Road. (KANG Sowon)

Screening Dates:
October 22nd, 2020 (Thursday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 1 | 13:30 pm

Trailer:

Abdur, who has to support his family but has insufficient income, is trying to get a working visa in a wealthy country to save money quickly. However, he has to face another choice after he hears the long-awaited news. (Park Sungho)

Screening Dates:
October 29th, 2020 (Thursday) | Busan Cinema Center Cinema 2 | 19:30 pm

Trailer:

This year we are recommending 12 Shorts, 20 Asian and 20 Korea films for you to watch at the Busan 2020. Please visit our special section to know about our recommendations: https://asianfilmfestivals.com/busan-2020

For more information about the festival and the programme please visit the festival’s website here: https://www.biff.kr