These are twenty films you shouldn’t miss at the 15th Busan International Kids & Youth Film Festival, which will take place from July 7th – 13th, 2020 in Busan, South Korea.

About the festival:
BIKY is the one of the best festivals that has provided a venue for children and teenagers to communicate through various films from all around world. BIKY has one competition called ‘Ready~Action!’ for films directed by children and teenagers. BIKY aims to discover films by young directors and develop new contents in the relevant fields for the future.

Selected films:

A First Farewell by Wang Lina – China | 2018 – 88 minutes

Deep in northwestern China, lies the Uyghur village that Isa calls home. With Isa’s mother’s illness, his father considers putting her in a care home, far away from the village. Isa’s best friend Kalbinur is about to be sent to a faraway Chinese school. And the little lamb, which the two children had been looking after with devotion ever since it was born, disappears.

Schedule:
July 8th, 2020 – Wednesday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinematheque) | 15:40 pm
July 13th, 2020 – Monday | Busan Cinema Center (Haneulyeon Thatre) | 15:40 pm

Trailer:

Anbessa by Mo Scarpelli – United States, Italy | 2019 – 85 85 minutes

10 year old Asalif and his mother have been displaced from their farmland, by the construction of a condominium. As they watch the buildings take shape, they are reminded in small and big ways that their country’s dream of ‘progress’ is not for them. To fight back against those casting him out and those threatening his mother’s safety, Asalif taps into a fantasy of becoming his hero: the lion.

Schedule:
July 10th, 2020 – Friday | Busan Cinema Center (Indie Plus) | 18:30 pm

Trailer:

Birds of Passage by Olivier Ringer – Belgium, France | 2015 – 84 minutes

For Cathy, it is not always easy to be born on February 29th, especially when for her birthday, her father gives her an egg to hatch. But it is probably less difficult than to be suffering from myopathy as her best friend Margaux…

Schedule:
July 11th, 2020 – Saturday | Busan Cinema Center | 17:00 pm

Trailer:

Flesh Out by Michela Occhipinti – Italy | 2019 – 94 minutes

Verida must get married in 3 months. According to her hometown’s tradition, Verida needs to gain weight to create an ample body that appeals to her future husband. As an obedient daughter, she wakes up in the middle of the night to drink milk and eats couscous to faithfully stick to the strict manual. Meanwhile, she is attracted to other man and starts questioning whether following the conditions of marriage is what she really wants.

Schedule:
July 7th, 2020 – Tuesday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 1) | 18:30 pm
July 9th, 2020 – Thursday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 2) | 18:00 pm

Trailer:

Forward by Gilles de Maistre – France | 2019 – 84 minutes

Their names are Micah, Chris, Heena, José Adolfo, Arthur, Khloe, Kevin, Aissatou. They are the voices of their generation in their country. From Peru to India, from France to Guinea, they fight locally against extreme poverty, social inequalities and climate change. They are the children who will change the world.

Schedule:
July 8th, 2020 – Wednesday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 1) | 18:30 pm
July 13th, 2020 – Monday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 1) | 15:30 pm

Trailer:

Green Days by Ah Jae-huun – South Korea | 2011 – 98 minutes

A normal 18 year-old girl, I-rang who has lived monotonously. She dreamed to be an athlete because she could only run faster than others. However, she falls down deliberately not to lose when she was overtaken in the relay for the first time. Then one day, Chul-soo gets hurt by falling while the flight experiment, I-rang has a curiosity about Chul-soo. I-rang goes to a town to fix her broken radio and she meets Chul-soo who is making a repair instead of his uncle. They become very close while they talk about the flight experiment…

Schedule:
July 11th, 2020 – Saturday | Busan Cinema Center (Green Square) | 14:30 pm

Trailer:

Here my village by Abas Aram – Iran | 2019 – 83 minutes

Farhad, a 12-year-old living with her mother and 6-year-old sister in a village . He lost his father 5 years ago due to a fatal disease. Farhad is crazy about photos and magazines. One of their neighbors named Behrooz who loves her mother brings him a magazine from the town. One day Behrooz gets him two National Geographic and burda fashion magazines. One day, he goes to the city with his family and gets fascinated by a second hand camera on the shop window. He tries hard to work and to buy the camera, but he does not succeed. Finally, he sold one of their sheep and could buy the camera. But her mother figured out and made him get back the camera and refund the money. When they arrive the city in the side walk, Farhad grabs the camera and ran away and then…

Schedule:
July 9th, 2020 – Thursday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 2) | 15:30 pm

Trailer:

It’s Not Forever by Alyona Rubinshteyn, Evgeniya Yatskina – Russia | 2019 – 93 minutes

Each of the children at the orphanage has his or her own story, his or her own feelings, his or her own smile. But they are all united by one shared dream that of finding a family. The life of this children is not at all easy, but they believe that this is not forever.

Schedule:
July 8th, 2020 – Wednesday | Busan Cinema Center (Indie Plus) | 14:00 pm
July 13th, 2020 – Monday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinematheque) | 18:10 pm

Trailer:

John Denver Trending by Arden Rod Condez – Philippines | 2019 – 96 minutes

His name is John Denver Cabungcal, a Grade 8 student. All he really wants is to do well in school and bring good grades to his mother. But one day, a classmate accuses him of stealing an IPAD. After his classmate’s persistent allegation, John Denver snaps and assaults his accuser. Unluckily for him, someone records the incident and posts the video on social network. In just five days, this ordinary farm boy’s life is suddenly overturned.

Schedule:
July 8th, 2020 – Wednesday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 1) | 16:00 pm
July 10th, 2020 – Friday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 1) | 15:30 pm

Trailer:

Lane 4 by Emiliano Cunha – Brazil | 2019 – 95 minutes

Amanda, an introverted 12 year-old swimming athlete, finds safety in her own world: underneath the water. Lacking attention from her parents, she spends most of the time at the swimming pool, training and trying to succeed in maybe the only thing she truly loves. Priscila, an amazing swimmer, becomes her opponent – not only in the pool also in life.

Schedule:
July 12th, 2020 – Sunday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 2) | 18:30 pm
July 13th, 2020 – Monday | Busan Cinema Center (Cinema 2) | 18:30 pm

Trailer:

For more information about the festival and the programme please go to the official website: HERE