30 Short films you shouldn’t miss at the 39th Busan International Short Film Festival (Part 1)

By Asian Film Festival on April 16, 2022 • ( 1 Comment )

These are thirty short films you shouldn’t miss at the 39th Busan International Short Film Festival which will take place from April 27 – May 2, 2022 in Busan, South Korea.

About the festival:
BISFF has established itself as the “Hub of Asian Shorts” by introducing various new short films from around the world every year, while also promoting Korean short films to the world. The purpose of BISFF is to discover and introduce outstanding short films directed around the world. Moreover, BISFF aims to bring the world’s latest and hidden gem-like shorts in the spotlight.

You can go to the second part of this article HERE

– Selected Films –

**Adjustment** by Mehrdad Hassani – Iran | 2022 – 17 minutes
**Section**: International Competition 1

A 9-year-old effeminate boy, Shahrokh, humiliated and pushed away by his family and friends makes up his mind to assume a new identity and comes out to the people of his village. Having been through a series of ordeals, Shahrokh, dressed in girl’s clothes, shows up at school and confronts his classmates. (BISFF 2022)

**Amir** by Tami Xu – Taiwan, India | 2020 – 19 minutes
**Section**: AFiS Special

In Kolkata, an Indian cook brings a Taiwanese client her phone back that she left in the restaurant he works for. Built on how easily and quickly people come in and out of each other’s life, this bittersweet and relatable film reminds how cultural differences, perhaps more so than feelings, actually affect a relationship. (Sébastien Simon) (BISFF 2022)

**An Excessive Day** by Zhao Danyang – South Korea | 2021 – 26 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 1

Seowoo goes back to a convenience store where she’s been working part[1]time to claim her unpaid salary. When she arrives, she meets a new part-timer who seems somewhat clumsy. (BISFF 2022)

**Apartment** by Lee Jui – South Korea | 2021 – 3 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 2

An apartment at night. People spend the night in their home. However, peace is short-lived. Burglars break into the apartment. (BISFF 2022)

**Broken** by Nan Khin San Win – Myanmar | 2021 – 13 minutes
**Section**: International Competition 6

Life for women and girls is far from safe in parts of conflict-affected Kayah State. In this absorbing short documentary, first-time director Khin San Win explores both her own trauma and that of another woman from her village in a bid to break the silence that shrouds violence against women in Myanmar. (BISFF 2022)

**Bruise** by Kim Inhye – South Korea | 2019 – 25 minutes
**Section**: Korean Shorts – Platform 1

Inha pays a visit to his girlfriend Dayeong’s father, Manhui, who runs a peach orchard on his own. Beginning as a comedy, the film depicts young individuals caught between hopes and despair, which contrasts with the scenery of the orchard, reminding viewers of their own hopes and agony. (Kang Byunghwa) (BISFF 2022)

**Cicada** by Yoon Daewoen – South Korea | 2021 – 17 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 3

Changhyeon, a transgender prostitute, encounters a customer who seems both familiar and yet unfamiliar. (BISFF 2022)

**Cut** by Son Minzun – South Korea | 2021 – 17 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 5

Eunah is being tortured to death by someone in a factory. Her last cries fill the air. Director Junseok abruptly yells, “cut.” Right then, it starts to rain. They hear it but they don’t see it. Delusion or reality, who can tell? (BISFF 2022)

**Finding Haemi** by Heo Jieun, Lee Kyoungho – South Korea | 2019 – 25 minutes
**Section**: Korean Shorts – Platform 2

Sunah, who has returned to college after a year away, goes to a club room at the request of a professor. With only 3 dialogue scenes, the film depicts a significant shift in human nature. (Kang Byunghwa) (BISFF 2022)

**Keep Going** by Jang Yuyoung, Yu Junho – South Korea | 2022 – 15 minutes
**Section**: Operation Kino

Kim Mingyu leads an ordinary life, working during the day and studying at a collage at night, and occasionally playing the piano. He meets his friends for a meal one day, but the conversation is a little intense. He confesses to his friends that he wanted to give up on life, and they answer bluntly. They were all raised in an orphanage. He later runs into his friends around Chuseok, and for the first time, he mentions his family. (BISFF 2022)

**Lanie** by Carmina Geronimo Cruz – Philippines | 2022 – 5 minutes
**Section**: AFiS Special

For transient populations working abroad, the pandemic has made separation with families in need at home all the more painful, any decision of a return even more irrevocable, and the future even less certain. In this seemingly inconspicuous story, directed with minimalism and restraint, of a migrant packing her suitcase to return to her country, some deep-rooted drama plays out. (Sébastien Simon) (BISFF 2022)

**Launder with Care** by Weiqi Chuah – Singapore | 2021 – 10 minutes
**Section**: AFiS Special

Two women of different ages, backgrounds and ethnicities meet in a laundromat, and small talk progressively makes way for a deeper conversation. For all the pains, heartbreaks and challenges that women go through in life (and throughout this program), this short film answers with warmth and with the idea that any random encounter has the potential to shift things around — even if just a little bit — for the better. (Sébastien Simon) (BISFF 2022)

**Mandala of May** by Gudam – South Korea | 2021 – 30 minutes
**Section**: Buddha’s Matinee

To the common preconception that the life of a Buddhist monk is one of willful detachment in service of the spiritual and the divine, this film reminds and convinces otherwise: As much as ever, monks carry out another mission, which is to bring peace to others and to soothe the ills of this world. That implies for them to be a vibrant and necessary part of society, not separate from it. (Sébastien Simon, Ahn Jaewoo) (BISFF 2022)

**Mast** by Lee Juseung – South Korea | 2021 – 24 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 3

After repeated failures to become a popular actor, Eungu decides to go to the sea. He wants to commit suicide in the dramatic way he’s always fantasized about. However, when he runs into an old friend’s wayward sister, his plan begins to fall apart. (BISFF 2022)

**My Child** by Kim Hyunjoo – Souht Korea | 2022 – 11 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 4

A mother’s destiny with a child that has not yet grown up enough. Though mother does her best to bring her child up, her child who never grew up enough to survive will be left alone. (BISFF 2022)

You can go to the second part of this article HERE

For more information please visit: http://www.bisff.org/eng/default.asp