By Israa Mohamed
Video = Official YouTube of BISFF

This year's Busan International Short Film Festival opening on April 25 will mark the start of the nation's No. 2 city's designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Film.

The Busan Metropolitan Government on April 22 said it will host the six-day event from April 25-30 at Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae-gu District and BNK Busan Bank Art Cinema Corner Theater in Jung-gu District.

Under the theme "Cinema & Reality," the festival will screen short films highlighting reality through traditional 3D, experimental and interactive works.

A combined 136 films from 43 countries will be screened out of the 3,682 entries the festival received from 116 countries. Thirty-nine works are entered in the International Competition category and 20 films in the Korean Competition.

The opening films are "Dive" from Italy, "Cross My Heart and Hope to Die" from the Philippines, and "My Mother's Story" from Korea. For the first time since the festival's inception in 1980, three films from the competition category will be screened at the opening ceremony.

To mark the 140th anniversary of Korea's diplomatic ties with Italy this year, the latter will be the country of honor at this year's event. Italian short films will be screened under the banner "Tiamo! Italy!" and Italian pianist Giuseppina Torre will give the opening ceremony's official performance.

Ahead of the ceremony, a drone performance will have the gizmos draw the festival's official promotional poster to create a festive mood. In addition to screenings of Korean and foreign short films over the event period, other programs include a new media cinema workshop and interactive spaces for visitors.

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