30 Short films you shouldn’t miss at the 39th Busan International Short Film Festival (Part 2)

By Asian Film Festival on April 18, 2022 • ( 1 Comment )

We continue with our list of short films that 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.

You can go to the first part of this article HERE

– Selected Films –

**Output** by Son Heewan – South Korea | 2021 – 16 minutes
**Section**: Operation Kino

Since the COVID-19 pandemic and the Burning Sun scandal, the media has portrayed clubs and DJs in a negative way, giving them a negative stigma. However, the club Output throws light on a different perspective. Interviewed Kim Minho, the manager of Output, and people who visit the club: what night life means to us now, what kind of diversity the street culture and party culture support, what kind of energy they give and how they affect each individual. (BISFF 2022)

**Pain of the Anonymous** by Amano Daichi – Japan | 2021 – 28 minutes
**Section**: International Competition 1

A former middle school teacher finds a new job as a content moderator, whose task is to review videos uploaded on an SNS site and delete those with explicit contents. As she becomes absorbed in her new work, her personal relationships begin to unravel. (BISFF 2022)

**Pitch Black** by Lee Junsup – South Korea | 2021 – 28 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 2

Weary from his wife’s repeated suicide attempts, a husband seeks help from a secretive agent an old doctor introduced him to; in the middle of the night, they come to his house. (BISFF 2022)

**Scams of Online Education** by Mustafa Bing Javed – Pakistan | 2019 – 17 minutes
**Section**: Opening Films | AFiS Special

Much like everywhere else in the last 2 years, university students and professors in Pakistan have had to juggle with the added difficulties posed by Covid-19 and by constantly-changing policies in regards to whether classes and exams should be conducted online, or in-person, or both, or neither…. in this wifi-dependent, anxiety-inducing whirlwind of confusion and frustration, a general impression remains: Nothing hits quite like a well-made documentary born out of necessity and unfairness. (Sébastien Simon) (BISFF 2022)

**Seungwoo** by Lee Haesol – South Korea | 2022 – 16 minutes
**Section**: Operation Kino

A 14-year-old boy who survived governmental violence is now a 54-year old middle-aged man. He tries to live a normal life while trying to forget about his past. (BISFF 2022)

**Sound of the Night** by Chanrado Sok, Kongkea Vann – Cambodia | 2021 – 20 minutes
**Section**: International Competition 2

Vibol and his brother Kea sell noodles on a motorized cart every night on the streets of Phnom Penh. They often face threats from gangsters and thieves, even if these very people are their only customers. As the city is growing around them, they consider their unstable income and imagine a different future. (BISFF 2022)

**Standby** by Lee Kyoungho, Heo Jieun – South Korea | 2021 – 19 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 5

Two people come to a strange place and wander around. The person waiting for the first snow approaches and talks to the person who is tired of waiting. (BISFF 2022)

**The Bowl** by Lu Lu – China | 2018 – 20 minutes
**Section**: Hub of Asia | Buddha’s Matinee

A young boy accompanies his mother to a Buddhist temple in the mountain and, through a budding friendship with a child monk, comes to learn more than he really understands. This gorgeously-shot, coming-of-age period piece highlights the subtle educative impression that Buddhism can make on young, foolhardy minds. (Sébastien Simon, Ahn Jaewoo) (BISFF 2022)

**The Boys Club** by Chen Yihwen – Malaysia | 2021 – 22 minutes
**Section**: International Competition 3

A Malaysian female filmmaker dreamt of making the first feature documentary for theatrical release in her country. After 4 years of struggles, her film premiered with glowing reviews. But soon after, she lost her job. This documentary reveals her deeply personal and harrowing filmmaking journey of enduring sexual harassment, bullying and misogyny. (BISFF 2022)

**The Daugther** by Nam Soona – South Korea | 2021 – 21 minutes
**Section**: Korean Competition 4

After taking care of her mother for a long time, Hyoeun inherits her mother’s home after she passes away. She tries to escape her mother’s shadow by removing any trace of her in the house, but, as the daughter is doing so, she hears whispers of her mother’s voice and strange things begin to happen. (BISFF 2022)

**The Day** by Lee Dongwon – South Korea | 2020 – 18 minutes
**Section**: Korean Shorts | Platform 1

Two people meet for the first time on a one-night date. The film illustrates the very natural basic human desire for intimacy by filming in close-up black and white, as the two pursue it in different ways. The film shows the cracks and gaps between the 2 characters with a sympathetic gaze, allowing the audience to empathize with them. The contrast between the 2 characters particularly stands out. (Kang Byunghwa) (BISFF 2022)

**The Divers** by Cho Heesoo – South Korea | 2021 – 10 minutes
**Section**: Opening Film | Korean Shorts, Platform 2

A stadium is built in Gangnam Station, which has the country’s largest floating population, and runners race continually. This race is bold and awakens our senses. It’s a dive in the sense of plunging into a crowd flow, and each stride transcends everyday life and causes you to contemplate a universal value. (Kang Byunghwa) (BISFF 2022)

**The Scent of Rat Carcasses** by Dharma Putra Purna Nugraha – Indonesia | 2021 – 9 minutes
**Section**: AFiS Special

A young woman, her mom grieving for her late husband, his spirit possibly haunting them, and the rats that keep on infesting their house despite their best efforts to poison them…. in this pressure-cooking environment, the overbearing influence of paternalism lingers even after the man of the house has passed away. A doubt lingers as well: Do birds stay in their cages willingly? (Sébastien Simon) (BISFF 2022)

**Time Flows in Strange Ways on Sundays** by Giselle Lin – Singapore | 2021 – 17 minutes
**Section**: International Competition 5

A mother, trapped in the comfort of memory and mourning, confronts her grief when she is invited to the wedding of her late son’s childhood sweetheart. (BISFF 2022)

**Walking on the Chairs** by Cha Jeamin – South Korea | 2020 – 11 minutes
**Section**: Korean Shorts, Platform 2

Cheers and enthusiasm fade after a match, and cleaners appear in the stadium. The film depicts it as if it were a game, and the collected conversations are read out. The film’s sound conveys a sense of survival, while the camera fills the empty space with insights into the solidarity of our time. (Kang Byunghwa) (BISFF 2022)

You can go to the first part of this article HERE

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