30 Short Films you shouldn’t miss at the 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Part 1)

By Asian Film Festival on July 2, 2022 • ( 1 Comment )

These are thirty short films you shouldn’t miss at the 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) which will take place online and in cinemas from July 7 – 17, 2022 in Bucheon, South Korea.

– Selected Shorts (Part 1) –

**Absence** by Jung Dahae – Korea | 2021 – 30 minutes
**Section**: XL

A strange child comes to Eun-ah, saying she can make save her deceased mother. Unablae to accept her mother’s death, Eun-ah wants to bring her back to life. (BIFAN 2022)

**Bardo** by Jung Jihyun – Korea | 2022 – 20 minutes
**Section**: Korean Fantastic – Shorts 2

Seon returned to her hometown to go through 49-day period ritual of her mother Sunbok who died in the sea. However, when police said that her mother’s death could be a suicide, Seon went to Eulgyo, mother’s friend -haenyeo, but she heard unexpected story from Eulgyo that Sunbok was actually not a haenyeo, but a shaman’s daughter who had to serve sea god. After that, Seon hears a myth from her childhood friend Ju that a woman in the shaman family who serves sea god is reborn as a daughter of her daughter 49 days after they dies and continues their eternal life through each other. Seon, who was pregnant, enters the shrine cave in order to prove that the pain of her mother, who suffered from headaches all her life, is not a recruit caused by not serving sea god, where she sees a strange light and gives birth with sudden labor pains. Seon, who tried to prove the superstition was false, sees the baby born 49 days after the mother’s death and believes the superstition is real, and disappears into the sea with the baby to break the link of eternal life. (BIFAN 2022)

**Between the Nights** by Woo Jeseung – Korea | 2022 – 30 minutes
**Section**: XL 1

Jisoo is a medium who comforts wandering spirits. She visits the parents of a Catholic, who cut off their relationship after Jisoo taking a medium role for her life, to hold her sister’s memorial ceremony. Jisoo’s mother, who strongly believed that Jisoo was used in evil spirits, suddenly asks Jisoo to talk to her dead eldest daughter. (BIFAN 2022)

**Bird Woman** by Oohara Tokio – Japan | 2022 – 21 minutes
**Section**: Bucheon Choice – Shorts 1

Tokyo is suffering from a once-in-a-century pandemic. Yet the morning commuter trains are as crowded as ever. Toki is fed up with the suffocation of the mask covering her mouth, and the men who take advantage of the fact that their face is hidden by the mask to molest her. One morning, Toki orders a Toki (Japanese Crested Ibis) mask from a friend who makes masks of animals, and when she puts it on and gets on the train, she does something unexpected. (BIFAN 2022)

**Boosruck** by Lee Tae-An, Cho Hyun Chul – Korea | 2022 – 27 minutes
**Section**: Korean Fantastic – Series Killers

Up in smoke Boosruck Directed by Lee Tae-an, Cho Hyun Chul, Korean cinema new wave duo. After her friends Hyun-chul and Mi-jin break up, Se-yeong sets out to find out the reason for their breakup and experiences mysterious occurrences. (BIFAN 2022)

**Clairvoyant** by John Luke Miraflor – Philippines | 2021 – 16 minutes
**Section**: XL 8

Haunted by an eerie image of a young girl, Angela struggles as she deals with her visions alone. Clairvoyant revolves around the story of Angela’s family as they navigate life through the pandemic, poverty, and the unexplained elements haunting their family. (BIFAN 2022)

**Cold** by Won Yu – Korea | 2022 – 24 minutes
**Section**: Korean Fantastic – Shorts 3

After hearing that homeless people live in abandoned theaters, the YouTuber ‘Miss Taeri’ team goes to cover there and encounters terrible things. Strange, suspicious, or greedy people happen to meet in one space and face their own cold nights. (BIFAN 20222)

**Dead Axel** by Kim ChanYoung – Korea | 2021 – 26 minutes
**Section**: XL 8

‘Despite the sudden zombie crisis, practicing figure skating must go on!’ The mother blocks the rink due to the sudden zombie incident, and makes Ahyoung keeps focusing on her figure skating practice. During practice, Ayoung’s rivals Yoojung and Yoojung’s mother knock on the blocked link window. The mom thinks hard seeing Ayoung’s practice. (BIFAN 2022)

**Ding-Dong Challenge** by Ahn Sang-hoon – Korea | 2021 – 18 minutes
**Section**: Korean Fantastic – Series Killer – Taste of Horror

Youngbi is a great dancer whose dream is to become an idol singer. Haeyul is a girl who dreams to be a world-famous youtuber. Bora is one of the top students in class who has recently fallen in love for the first time. They are all in the same dance club in high school. One day, they watch a video on an application called Ding-Dong Challenge. It says that if they dance the same as in the video, their dreams will come true. So, all three of them decide to do the dance, and their death is slowly approaching to them. (BIFAN 2022)

**Gapjil** by Lim Dae-woong – Korea | 2021 – 21 minutes
**Section**: Korean Fantastic – Series Killer – Taste of Horror 1

Jihye, a call center employee at a delivery application company, is worried about her colleague, Boyoung, who hasn’t been answering her texts since a few days ago. She asks Chowon, another colleague of hers, about Boyoung, but Boyoung doesn’t seem to care about her. They are suffering from power abuse and harassment at work all the time. One day, they go for a drink and have fun trying to relieve their stress. After they get drunk, they decide to experience what it feels like to be in a position of power over others for the first time in their lives. However, they end up making a huge mistake… (BIFAN 2022)

**Hey, Mammons!** by Ahn Sang-hoon – Korea | 2021 – 29 minutes
**Section**: Korean Fantastic – Series Killer – Taste of Horror 1

Kyungpil, who has lost all his money in the stock market, is about to commit suicide. However, he finds an AI speaker called ‘Mammons’ made by a genius engineer by chance. He does what Mammons says and finally becomes extremely wealthy and successful. He also marries a beautiful girl named Dahyun who is a famous TV anchor. So, it seems like there is only a bright future ahead of him. One day, Dahyun, who doesn’t know much about Mammons, accidentally touches the machine, and it starts to malfunction. Since then, Kyungpil and Dahyun have a number of serious fights and it keeps getting worse as time goes on. What is the secret behind Mammons and the mysterious death of the engineer? (BIFAN 2022)

**Hidden Road** by Kim Cheol-hwi – Korea | 2022 – 23 minutes
**Section**: XL 5

Two cars are seen smashed on a quiet road where cars are unlikely to travel. ‘Sung-hoon’ lost his wife and daughter in the accident, but ‘Tae-soo’ has no problem. Can two people in different positions understand each other and move forward? (BIFAN 2022)

**Home** by Kim Bosol – Korea | 2019 – 16 minutes
**Section**: It Goes On – 39+1, KAFA Shorts 3

It is a world where high buildings fill the sky and things get thrown away as soon as they become useless. A dog named Mogeulee got abandoned when he was a puppy because he couldn’t prove he was useful. Mogeulee wanders about from place to place, and he ends up in a dumpsite. Hurt by people, Mugeulee is hostile to everyone he meets, but he opens up to a robot named ‘Rom’ he met in the dumpsite. After finding out that Rom wishes to go back to its home, Mogeulee goes through hardships and troubles with Rom to find the way to Rom’s home. (BIFAN 2022)

**Keyboard Warrior** by Leo Liu – Taiwan | 2022 – 30 minutes
**Section**: XL 6

Ying Hong is a college student who likes martial arts. He always likes to publish his opinions on martial arts on the Internet and scold netizens. One time, Ying Hong and his roommate were attacked by gangsters while eating supper. Ying Hong made a single move to knock down each other by accident. The process was recorded and uploaded to the Internet by mobile phones. The video instantly became popular. Ying Hong also unexpectedly became the Internet celebrity ‘Kung Fu Man’. With more and more people questioning the strength of ‘Kung Fu Man’ on the Internet, Ying Hong has to face the challenges of others. And even more difficult: facing the true self. (BIFAN 2022)

**Moshari** by Nuhash Humayun – Bangladesh | 2021 – 21 minutes
**Section**: Bucheon Choice – Shorts 2

Moshari are traditional South Asian mosquito nets, made for protection against vermin at night. When the world is overrun with bloodthirsty creatures, the last of mankind persevere in Dhaka, Bangladesh by spending their nights inside the moshari—the only known shelter from the unknown threat. Two sisters, Apu and Ayra, must navigate this strange new world to survive. One night, when Ayra’s curiosity lures her outside the safety of the moshari, Apu must rise to the occasion—as they face their demons, together. (BIFAN 2022)

To see the second part of this article please go here: PART 2

This film will be available online during the festival via Wavve For more information, please visit: http://www.bifan.kr/eng/