By Kim Eun-young and Yoon Sojung
Video = YouTube account of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival

The 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) was opened on July 7 in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do Province. 

 
This marks the first holding of the festival in three years since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. The opening ceremony saw actor Seol Kyung Gu and director Jung Bum-shik walk on the red carpet. An estimated 1,500 people attended the event, including influential film figures and fans.

BIFAN Director Shin Chul said, "This will become an evolving festival that doesn't go back to the past," adding, "I hope that the festival boosts the courage of creators." 

Actor Seol Kyung Gu on July 7 poses for photos at the red carpet event of the opening ceremony of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival held in front of the grass garden near Bucheon City Hall in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do Province. Yonhap News.

Under the theme "Stay Strange," this year's festival will screen 268 films from 49 countries at 13 theaters and on the online streaming platform Waave.

The opening film is "Men" directed by Alex Garland, whose unique view of the world are shown in his previous works like "Ex Machina" (2015) and "Southern Reach: Annihilation" (2018). "Men" is a horror movie about a wife who rents a house in the U.K. countryside after her husband's death.

BIFAN called this film "one of the strangest yet most original films at this year's festival." 

The international competition category Bucheon Choice: Features has 10 films including "Alien Artist" by Seiyo Hoya and "Huesera" by Michelle Garza Cervera. Festival goers can also see the 10 selected films in the domestic competition category Korean Fantastic including "Cabriolet," the debut work of Cho Kwang-jin, who drew the original comic book that inspired the popular TV drama "Itaewon Class."

The festival's retrospective this year is about actor Seol. Seven of his films will be screened including "Peppermint Candy" (1999) "Oasis" (2002) and "Public Enemy" (2001).

The closing film is "New Normal" directed by Jung Bum-shik, who is best known for his horror films "Epitaph" (2007) and "Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum" (2018). "New Normal" shows people over four days who get used to eating alone, and stars Choi Minho of the boy band Shinee, Choi Ji-woo, Lee Yoo Mi and Jung Dong Won.

BIFAN said, "This unique and standout work of suspense comprises fun ideas about people's fears in a lonely era."

eykim86@korea.kr