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10th Busan Inter-City Film Festival Opens August 28, Connecting Cities, People, and Film

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, announced that the 10th Busan Inter-City Film Festival will be held for three days from August 28 through 30 at the Busan Cinema Center Cinematheque and Mousai Theater.

Hosted and organized by the Busan Independent Film Association with support from Busan Metropolitan City, the festival will be held under the slogan “Film People City.” It will introduce local films from cities in Korea and abroad with which the association has developed exchanges, as well as from Busan and other UNESCO Creative Cities of Film.

In particular, since Busan was elected Chair City of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of film in July 2024, the city has been expanding exchanges and cooperation among Creative Cities of Film around the world. Through this festival, Busan aims to further enhance its standing as an international city of film.

This year, a total of 21 cities and film platforms will participate, including 16 UNESCO Creative Cities of Film from 12 countries and other partner cities in Korea and abroad, presenting a wide range of local films from cities around the world.

Participating UNESCO Creative Cities of Film include Valladolid and Terrassa in Spain, Wellington in New Zealand, Potsdam in Germany, Lodz in Poland, Yamagata in Japan, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Partner cities of the Busan Independent Film Association, including Tainan, Taiwan, and Fukuoka, Japan, will also take part.

The festival will also expand opportunities for international film exchange connecting cities and creators through collaboration with overseas film platforms, including the Hong Kong- and Singapore-based artist platform Cinemovement.

The special section “Drawing City” poses cinematic questions each year by focusing on a single city or theme. This year, it will present the Korean premieres of two films examining the memories and realities of cities affected by war.

The program will screen director Midi Z’s “The Clinic,” which portrays the realities of Myanmar’s civil war, and “Lost in Bosnia,” which depicts Sarajevo in the aftermath of war. Cine-talk sessions will explore the realities of cities shaped by war and the perspectives through which cinema observes them.

“Lost in Bosnia,” in particular, is an omnibus film created by participants in Film Factory, which Bela Tarr established in Sarajevo. Together with participating director Ghazi Alqudcy, the festival will shed light on the cinematic vision and legacy of Bela Tarr and Film Factory.

The newly introduced “-scape” section explores cinema’s distinctive language and imagery through its ways of perceiving landscape, time, and memory.

Through director Zhang Lu’s “Chunshu” and director Oda Kaori’s “Bela Tarr in Fukushima,” the section presents different ways in which cinema observes and reflects on reality.

The festival will also mark the 10th anniversary of the Busan Inter-City Residency Film Production Project by looking back on its achievements over the past decade and presenting new creative work.

A special 10th-anniversary program titled “In Another Place” will revisit the experiences of creators who traveled between Busan and Fukuoka and reflect on the significance of their exchanges. Over the past decade, the residency project has supported filmmakers through exchanges with 11 overseas cities.

The festival will also premiere “From the Mountain,” a feature-length documentary by Busan-based director Lee Sung-wook, who was dispatched to Lodz, Poland, this year. Moving between the natural landscapes and mythologies of Busan and Lodz, the film explores differing cultural perceptions of nature. Following the screening, a cine-talk will provide an opportunity to discuss the production process and the director’s creative experience.

Online ticket reservations for the 10th Busan Inter-City Film Festival are available through the Busan Cinema Center website at https://www.dureraum.org and the Mousai Theater website at https://mousai0042.modoo.at/. Detailed programs and schedules are available on the Busan Independent Film Association website at https://www.indiebusan.com.

Jo Yu-jang, Director General of the Culture Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, said, “We hope that the 10th-anniversary Busan Inter-City Film Festival will further establish itself as a platform for exchange connecting Creative Cities of Film around the world with Busan’s creators and citizens, while providing an opportunity to strengthen Busan’s international standing as a city of film.”