By Kang Gahui and Lee Hana
Photos = Busan International Film Festival

The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) kicked off this year on Oct. 12, inviting audiences on a 10-day voyage into the world of cinema.

This year's festival will showcase some 300 films from 75 countries at the Busan Cinema Center, CGV Centum City, Lotte Cinema Centum City, Megabox Jangsan Haeundae and Sohyang Theater Centum City. In addition to 99 films that will be screened for the very first time, some 31 films will have their international premiere at the festival.

For the first time in the festival's history, both the opening and closing films belong to female directors.

The opening film is "Glass Garden" by director Shin Suwon, whose previous work competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. "Glass Garden" centers on Jae-yeon, a woman who works at a biotechnology lab, devoted to the study of extending human life using plant cells. Meanwhile, a novelist who watches Jae-yeon from afar follows her to her hiding place in the hopes of using her story for his next novel.



The closing film is "Love Education" by Taiwanese director Sylvia Chang. The film follows the events that unfold when a daughter decides to move her father's grave from his hometown to beside her mother's grave. However, the man's first wife, who has looked after the grave for years, doesn't approve. The resulting disagreement, and the efforts made to resolve differences between generations, forms the film's plot.

Meanwhile, the festival's Gala Presentation section includes works by contemporary filmmakers such as "Manhunt" by Hong Kong director John Woo and "Mother!" the latest feature by U.S. director Darren Aronofsky. "Manhunt" is a remake of the 1976 film "You Must Cross the River of Wrath" by Japanese director Takamura Ken. Korean actress Ha Ji-won stars as the killer in the film.



Moviegoers can also look forward to a number of award-winning films.

There's "Downsizing" by U.S. director Alexander Payne, chosen as the opening film at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. It imagines what might happen if, as a solution to overpopulation, scientists discovered a way to shrink humans to five inches or 13 centimeters tall, proposing a global transition from big to small.

"The Square" by Swedish filmmaker Ruben Ostlund, recipient of the Cannes 2017 Palme d'Or, "The Double Lover" by French director Francois Ozon, which premiered in competition at Cannes, and "Wonderstruck" by U.S. director Todd Haynes will also be shown in theaters across Busan.

In addition, the BIFF will launch Platform Busan, a networking event for Asian independent filmmakers for the first time this year, offering seminars, forums and workshops from Oct. 14 to 18.

More information about this year's BIFF can be found at its website.

www.biff.kr

The BIFF started in 1996 with the aim of providing a platform for Asian cinema. It's a non-competitive film festival that has become one of the biggest of its kind in Asia.

kgh89@korea.kr