By Israa Mohamed
Video = Busan International Film Festival's official YouTube

This year's Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the largest cinematic event in Asia, kicks off on the evening of Oct. 4 at the outdoor theater of Busan Cinema Theater in Busan's Haeundae-gu District.

A combined 209 films invited from 69 countries will be screen on 25 screens at four movie theaters including Busan Cinema Theater and CGV Centum City.

Actor Park Eun-bin will host the opening ceremony, which begins at 6 p.m. on Oct. 4. Fellow actor Song Kang-ho is "this year's host" to greet invited guests and directors as the festival's posts of festival chair and director remain vacant.

Veteran Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat will be on hand to receive the BIFF award for Asian Filmmaker of the Year. Directors from around the world including Hirokazu Kore-eda of Japan and Luc Besson of France will also attend.

To run through Oct. 13, the festival will hold programs and events such as the Asia Content and Global OTT awards, "Korean American Special Exhibition: Korean Diaspora" and "Renaissance of Indonesian Cinema," which focuses on productions from the Southeast Asian country.

The opening ceremony will be livestreamed on the festival's official YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@Busanfilmfest) and Naver TV (tv.naver.com/biff23). 

This is the official promotional poster for this year's Busan International Film Festival. (Busan International Film Festival)